Xs" 


6 


Ihey  re  coming  !     Ihey're  comicg  !   v?as  the  cry  " 


p    68. 


A   NEW  HOME- WHO'LL    FOLLOW? 


GLIMPSES  OP  WESTERN   LIFE. 


BY 

MRS.    MARY    CLAVERS, 

AN    ACTUAL    SETTLER. 


Ladies — or  fair  ladies— I  would  wish  you — or  I  would  request  you,  or  I  would 
entreat  you,  not  to  fear — not  to  tremble ;  my  life  for  yours. 

MIDSUMMER-NIGHT'S  DRLAM. 

A  show,  as  it  were,  of  an  accompanable  solitariness,  and  of  a  civil  wildness. 

SIDNEY'S  ARCADIA. 


FOURTH   EDITION. 


REVISED     BY     THE     AUTHOR, 
AND    ILLUSTRATED     BY     ENGRAVINGS 

FROM    DESIGNS  BY    F.    O.    C.    DARLEY. 


NEW    YORK: 
C.    S.    FRANCIS   &   CO.,    252    BROADWAY. 

BOSTON: 

J.  II.  FRANCIS,  128  WASHINGTON  STREET. 
1850. 


Entered,  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1839, 

BY  CHARLES  S.  FRANCIS, 

the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  United  States  for  the 
Southern  District  of  New  York. 


PRINTED    BY 

MUNKOE  «fe  F  KAN  CIS, 
Boston. 


PS 

ft\\ 

N4 

185'P 


PREFACE, 

I  AM  glad  to  be  told  by  those  who  live  in  the  world, 
that  it  has  lately  become  fashionable  to  read  prefaces. 
I  wish  to  say  a  few  words,  by  way  of  introduction,  to 
a  work  which  may  be  deemed  too  slight  to  need  a  pre 
face,  but  which  will  doubtless  be  acknowledged  to  re 
quire  some  recommendation. 

I  claim  for  these  straggling  and  cloudy  crayon  sketches 
of  life  and  manners  in  the  remoter  parts  of  Michigan  the 
merit  of  general  truth  of  outline.  Beyond  this  I  ven 
ture  not  to  aspire.  I  felt  somewhat  tempted  to  set  forth 
my  little  book  as  being  entirely — what  it  is  very  nearly — a 
veritable  history ;  an  unimpeachable  transcript  of  reality  ; 
a  rough  picture,  in  detached  parts,  but  pentagraphed 
from  the  life ;  a  sort  of  *  Emigrant's  Guide  ;' — considering 
with  myself  that  these  my  adventurous  journey  ings  and 
tarry  ings  beyond  the  confines  of  civilization  might  fairly 
be  held  to  confer  the  traveller's  privilege.  But  conscience 
prevailed,  and  I  must  honestly  confess,  that  there  be 
glosses,  and  colorings,  and  lights,  if  not  shadows,  for 

3 

988243 


4  PREFACE. 

which  the  author  is  alone  accountable.  Journals,  pub 
lished  entire  and  unaltered,  should  be  Parthian  darts, 
sent  abroad  only  when  one's  back  is  turned.  To  throw 
them  in  the  teeth  of  one's  every-day  associates  might 
diminish  one's  popularity  rather  inconveniently.  I  would 
desire  the  courteous  reader  to  bear  in  mind,  however, 
that  whatever  is  quite  unnatural,  or  absolutely  incredible, 
in  the  few  incidents  which  diversify  the  following  pages, 
is  to  be  received  as  literally  true.  It  is  only  in  the  most 
common-place  parts  (if  there  be  comparisons)  that  I  have 
any  leasing-making  to  answer  for. 

It  will  of  course  be  observed  that  Miss  Mitford's  charm 
ing  sketches  of  village  life  must  have  suggested  the  form 
of  my  rude  attempt.  I  dare  not  flatter  myself  that  any 
one  will  be  led  to  accuse  me  of  further  imitation  of  a 
deservedly  popular  writer.  And  with  such  brief  salvo,  I 
make  my  humble  curtsey.  M.  c. . 


PREFACE  TO  THE  FOURTH  EDITION. 


The  improvements  which  have  taken  place  in  the  social 
aspect  of  the  great  West  since  these  unvarnished  records 
were  written,  may  lead  some  who  observe  the  present  to 
doubt  the  truthfulness  of  such  delineations  of  the  past ;  but 
much  observation  subsequent  to  the  publication  of  this 
book,  and  much  after  reflection  upon  it,  suggest  to  me 
nothing  to  be  retracted  or  altered  in  the  sketches,  as  an 
honest  portraiture  of  rural  life  in  a  new  country. 

No  peculiarity  of  custom  or  expression  is  here  intro 
duced  which  was  not  drawn  directly  from  fact,  and  if 
the  picture  lack  verity  in  any  particular,  it  is  not  through 
exaggeration,  but  the  opposite.  Indeed,  the  immediate 
appropriation  of  the  book  in  a  dozen  different  parts  of 
the  country,  before  the  authorship  was  known,  is  a  suf 
ficient  voucher  for  its  truth. 

I  am,  therefore,  much  pleased  to  be  able  to  present  a 
New  Edition ;  the  fourth  public  favor  has  called  for, 
with  illustrations  by  a  pencil  which  never  fails  to  add 

grace  to  any  subject,  however  homely. 

C.  M.  K. 

NEW  YORK,  November,  1849. 


A     NEW     HOME. 


CHAPTER    I 

Here  are  seen 

No  traces  of  man's  pomp  and  pride ;  no  silks 
Rustle,  nor  jewels  shine,  nor  envious  eyes 
Encounter.        ***** 

Oh,  there  is  not  lost 

One  of  earth's  charms ;  upon  her  bosom  yet 
After  the  flight  of  untold  centuries 
The  freshness  of  her  far  beginning  lies. 

BRYANT. 

OUR  friends  in  the  '  settlements '  have  expressed  so  much 
interest  in  such  of  our  letters  to  them  as  happened  to  con 
vey  any  account  of  the  peculiar  feaj;uf€^.jifi Western  K'jfe,  dud 
have  asked  so  many  questions,  touching  particulars  which 
we  had  not  thought  worthy  of  jpejitfp^J&fit!  I  have  oacu 
for  some  time  past  contemplating  the  possibility  of  some 
thing  like  a  detailed  account  of  our  experiences.  And  I 
have  determined  to  give  them  to  the  world,  in  a  form  not 
very  different  from  that  in  which  they  were  originally 
recorded  for  our  private  delectation ;  nothing  doubting,  that 
a  veracious  history  of  actual  occurrences,  an  unvarnished 
transcript  of  real  characters,  and  an  impartial  record  of 
every-day  forms  of  speech  (taken  down  in  many  cases  from 
the  lips  of  the  speaker)  will  be  pronounced  '  graphic  '  by  at 
least  a  fair  proportion  of  the  journalists  of  the  day. 

1 


8  A    NEW    HOME, 

It  is  true  there  are  but  meagre  materials  for  anything 
that  might  be  called  a  story.  I  have  never  seen  a  cougar  — 
nor  been  bitten  by  a  rattlesnake.  The  reader  who  has 
patience  to  go  with  me  to  the  close  of  my  desultory 
sketches,  must  expect  nothing  beyond  a  meandering  recital 
of  common-place  occurrences  —  mere  gossip  about  every 
day  people,  little  enhanced  in  value  by  any  fancy  or  inge 
nuity  of  the  writer  ;  in  short,  a  very  ordinary  pen-drawing  ; 
which,  deriving  no  interest  from  coloring,  can  be  valuable 
only  for  its  truth. 

A  home  on  the  outskirts  of  civilization  —  habits  of  society 
which  allow  the  maid  and  her  mistress  to  do  the  honors  in 
complete  equality,  and  to  make  the  social  tea  visit  in  loving 
conjunction  —  such  a  distribution  of  the  duties  of  life  as 
compels  all,  without  distinction,  to  rise  with  the  sun  or 
before  him  —  to  breakfast  with  the  chickens  —  then, 

"  Count  the  slow  clock,  and  dine  exact  at  noon"  — 

to  be  ready  for  tea  at  four,  and  for  bed  at  eight  —  may 
certainly  be  expected  to  furnish  some  curious  particulars  for 
the  consideration  of^  those  whose  daily  course  almost  reverses 
this  'primitive''  a?m*rige*raent  —  who  '  call  night  day  and  day 


3  apt  occasionally  to  forget,  when  speak 
ing  of  a  particular  'class,'  that  '  those  creatures  '  are  partakers 
with  themselves  of  a  common  nature. 

I  can  only  wish,  like  other  modest  chroniclers,  my 
respected  prototypes,  that  so  fertile  a  theme  had  fallen  into 
worthier  hands.  If  Miss  Mitford,  who  has  given  us  such 
charming  glimpses  of  Aberleigh,  Hilton  Cross,  and  the 
Loddon,  had,  by  some  happy  chance,  been  translated  to 
Michigan,  what  would  she  not  have  made  of  such  materials 
as  Tinkerville,  Montacute,  and  the  Turnip  ? 

When  my  husband  purchased  two  hundred  acres  of  wild 


WHO'LL     FOLLOW?  9 

land  on  the  banks  of  this  to-be-celebrated  stream,  and  drew 
with  a  piece  of  chalk  on  the  bar-room  table  at  Danforth's 
the  plan  of  a  village,  I  little  thought  I  was  destined  to  make 
myself  famous  by  handing  down  to  posterity  a  faithful 
record  of  the  advancing  fortunes  of  that  favored  spot. 

'  The  madness  of  the  people '  in  those  days  of  golden 
dreams  took  more  commonly  the  form  of  city-building  ; 
but  there  were  a  few  who  contented  themselves  with  plan 
ning  villages,  on  the  banks  of  streams  which  certainly  never 
could  be  expected  to  bear  navies,  but  which  might  yet  be 
turned  to  account  in  the  more  homely  way  of  grinding  or 
sawing — operations  which  must  necessarily  be  performed 
somewhere,  for  the  well-being  of  those  very  cities.  It  is  of 
one  of  these  humble  attempts  that  it  is  my  lot  to  speak,  and 
I  make  my  confession  at  the  outset,  warning  any  fashion 
able  reader,  who  may  have  taken  up  my  book,  that  I  intend 
to  be  '  decidedly  low.' 

Whether  the  purchaser  of  our  village  would  have  been  as 
moderate  under  all  possible  circumstances,  I  am  not  prepared 
to  say,  since,  never  having  enjoyed  a  situation  under  govern 
ment,  his  resources  have  not  been  unlimited  ;  and  for  this 
reason  any  remark  which  may  be  hazarded  in  the  course  of 
these  my  lucubrations  touching  the  more  magnificent  plans 
of  wealthier  aspirants,  must  be  received  with  some  grains 
of  allowance.  '  II  est  plus  ais£  d'etre  sage  pour  les  autres, 
que  de  1'etre  pour  soi-meme.' 

When  I  made  my  first  visit  to  these  remote  and  lonely 
regions,  the  scattered  woods  through  which  we  rode  for 
many  miles  were  gay  in  their  first  gosling-green  suit  of 
half-opened  leaves,  and  the  forest  odors  which  exhaled  with 
the  dews  of  morning  and  evening,  were  beyond  measure 
delicious  to  one  '  long  in  populous  cities  pent.'  I  desired 


10  A    NE  W    HOME, 

much  to  be  a  little  sentimental  at  the  time,  and  feel 
tempted  to  indulge  to  some  small  extent  even  here — but  I 
forbear  ;  and  shall  adhere  closely  to  matters  more  in  keep 
ing  with  my  subject. 

I  think,  to  be  precise,  the  time  was  the  last,  the  very  last 
of  April,  and  I  recollect  well  that  even  at  that  early  season, 
by  availing  myself  with  sedulous  application,  of  those  times 
when  I  was  fain  to  quit  the  vehicle  through  fear  of  the 
perilous  mud-holes,  or  still  more  perilous  half-bridged 
marshes,  I  picked  upwards  of  twenty  varieties  of  wild- 
flowers — some  of  them  of  rare  and  delicate  beauty  ; — and 
sure  I  am,  that  if  I  had  succeeded  in  inspiring  my  compa 
nion  with  one  spark  of  my  own  floral  enthusiasm,  our 
hundred  miles  of  travel  would  have  occupied  a  week's  time. 

The  wild-flowers  of  Michigan  deserve  a  poet  of  their  own. 
Shelley  who  sang  so  quaintly  of  '  the  pied  wind-flowers  and 
the  tulip  tall,'  would  have  found  many  a  fanciful  compari 
son  and  deep-drawn  meaning  for  the  thousand  gems  of  the 
road-side.  Charles  Lamb  could  have  written  charming 
volumes  about  the  humblest  among  them.  Bulwer  would 
find  means  to  associate  the  common  three-leaved  white  lily 
so  closely  with  the  Past,  the  Present,  and  the  Future — the 
Wind,  the  Stars,  and  the  Tripod  of  Delphos,  that  all  future 
botanists,  and  eke  all  future  philosophers,  might  fail  to 
unravel  the  '  linked  sweetness.'  We  must  have  a  poet  of 
our  own. 

Since  I  have  casually  alluded  to  a  Michigan  mud-hole,  I 
may  as  well  enter  into  a  detailed  memoir  on  the  subject,  for 
the  benefit  of  future  travellers,  who,  flying  over  the  soil  on 
railroads,  may  look  slightingly  back  upon  the  achievements 
of  their  predecessors.  In  the  '  settlements,'  a  mud-hole  is 
considered  as  apt  to  occasion  an  unpleasant  jolt — a  break- 


WHO'LL    FOLLOW?  1 1 

ing  of  the  thread  of  one's  reverie — or  in  extreme  cases,  a 
temporary  stand-still,  or  even  an  overturn  of  the  rash  and 
unwary.  Here,  on  approaching  one  of  these  characteristic 
features  of  the  '  West ' — (how  much  does  that  expression 
mean  to  include  ?  I  have  never  been  able  to  discover  its 
limits) — the  driver  stops — alights — walks  up  to  the  dark 
gulf — and  around  it,  if  he  can  get  around  it.  He  then  seeks 
a  long  pole  and  sounds  it,  measures  it  across  to  ascertain 
how  its  width  compares  with  the  length  of  his  wagon — tries 
whether  its  sides  are  perpendicular,  as  is  usually  the  case 
if  the  road  is  much  used.  If  he  find  it  not  more  than  three 
feet  deep,  he  remounts  cheerily,  encourages  his  team,  and 
in  they  go,  with  a  plunge  and  a  shock,  rather  apt  to  damp 
the  courage  of  the  inexperienced.  If  the  hole  be  narroAv, 
the  hinder  wheels  will  be  quite  lifted  off  the  ground  by  the 
depression  of  their  precedents,  and  so  remain  until  by  un 
wearied  chiruping  and  some  judicious  touches  of  '  the  string ' 
the  horses  are  induced  to  struggle  as  for  their  lives  ;  and  if 
the  Fates  are  propitious  they  generally  emerge  on  the 
opposite  side,  dragging  the  vehicle,  or,  at  least,  the  fore- 
wheels,  after  them.  When  I  first  '  penetrated  the  interior/ 
(to  use  an  indigenous  phrase,)  all  I  knew  of  the  wilds  was 
from  Hoffman's  Tour,  or  Captain  Hall's  '  graphic '  deline 
ations.  I  had  some  floating  idea  of  '  driving  a  barouche-and- 
four  any  where  through  the  oak-openings  ' — and  seeing 
'  the  murdered  Banquos  of  the  forest '  haunting  the  scenes 
of  their  departed  strength  and  beauty.  But  I  confess  these 
pictures,  touched  by  the  glowing  pencil  of  fancy,  gave  me 
but  incorrect  notions  of  a  real  journey  through  Michigan. 

Our  vehicle  was  not  perhaps  very  judiciously  chosen — at 
least  we  have  since  thought  so.  It  was  a  light,  high-hung 
carriage — of  the  description  commonly  known  as  a  buggy 


12  A    NEW    HOME, 

or  shandrydan — names,  of  which  I  would  be  glad  to  learn 
the  etymology.  I  seriously  advise  any  of  my  friends,  who 
are  about  flitting  to  Wisconsin  or  Oregon,  to  prefer  a  heavy 
lumber  wagon,  even  for  the  use  of  the  ladies  of  the  family ; 
very  little  aid  or  consolation  being  derived  from  making  a 
'  genteel '  appearance  in  such  cases. 

At   the   first   encounter  of   such  a  mud-hole  as   I  have 
attempted  to   describe,  we  stopped  in  utter  despair.     My 
companion  indeed  would  fain  have  persuaded  me  that  the 
many  wheel  tracks  which   passed   through   the  formidable 
gulf  were  proof  positive  that  it  might  be  forded.     I  insisted 
with  all  a  woman's   obstinacy  that   I   could  not  and  would 
not  make  the  attempt,  and  alighted  accordingly,  and  tried  to 
find  a  path  on  one  side  or  the  other.     But  in  vain,  even 
putting  out  of  the  question  my  paper-soled  shoes — sensible 
things  for  the  woods.     The  ditch   on   each  side  was  filled 
with  water  and  quite  too  wide  to  jump  over  ;  and  we  were 
actually  contemplating  a  return,  when  a  man  in  an  immense 
bear-skin  cap  and  a  suit  of  deer's  hide,  sprang  from  behind 
a  stump   just  within   the  edge  of  the  forest.     He  '  poled  ' 
himself  over  the  ditch   in  a  moment,  and  stood  beside  us, 
rifle  in  hand,  as  wild  and  rough  a  specimen  of  humanity  as 
one  would  wish  to  encounter  in  a  strange  and   lonely  road, 
just  at  the  shadowy  dusk  of  the  evening.      I  did  not  scream, 
though    I    own  I   was    prodigiously   frightened.     But  our 
stranger   said    immediately,  in   a   gentle   tone   and  with  a 
French  accent,  '  Me  watch  deer — you  want  to  cross  ?'     On 
receiving  an  answer  in  the  affirmative,  he  ran  in  search  of 
a  rail,  which  he  threw  over   the   terrific  mud-hole — aided 
me  to  walk  across  by  the   help  of  his   pole — showed  my 
husband  where  to  plunge — waited  till   he  had  gone  safely 
through,  and  '  slow  circles  dimpled  o'er  the  quaking  mud ' 


WHO'LL    FOLLOW?  13 

— then  took  kimself  off  by  the  way  he  came,  declining 
any  compensation  with  a  most  polite  '  rien  !  rien  !'  This 
instance  of  true  and  genuine  and  generous  politeness  I 
record  for  the  benefit  of  all  bearskin  caps,  leathern  jerkins, 
and  cowhide  boots,  which  ladies  from  the  eastward  world 
may  hereafter  encounter  in  Michigan. 

Our  journey  was  marked  by  no  incident  more  alarming 
than  the  one  I  have  related,  though  one  night  passed  in  a 
wretched  inn,  deep  in  the  '  timbered  land  ' — as  all  woods 
are  called  in  Michigan — was  not  without  its  terrors,  owing 
to  the  horrible  drunkenness  of  the  master  of  the  house, 
whose  wife  and  children  were  in  constant  fear  of  their  lives 
from  his  insane  fury.  I  can  never  forget  the  countenance  of 
that  desolate  woman,  sitting  trembling,  and  with  white 
compressed  lips,  in  the  midst  of  her  children.  The  father 
raving  all  night,  and  coming  through  our  sleeping  apart 
ment  with  the  earliest  ray  of  morning  in  search  of  more  of 
the  poison  already  boiling  in  his  veins.  The  poor  wife 
could  not  forbear  telling  me  her  story • — her  change  of  lot — 
from  a  well-stored  and  comfortable  home  in  Connecticut  to 
this  wretched  den  in  the  wilderness — herself  and  children 
worn  almost  to  shadows  with  the  ague,  and  her  husband 
such  as  I  have  described  him.  I  may  mention  here,  that 
not  very  long  after,  I  heard  of  this  man  in  prison  in  Detroit, 
for  stabbing  a  neighbor  in  a  drunken  brawl,  and  ere  the 
year  was  out,  he  died  of  delirium  tremens,  leaving  his 
family  destitute.  So  much  for  turning  our  fields  of  golden 
grain  into  '  fire  water ' — a  branch  of  business  in  which 
Michigan  is  fast  improving. 

Our  ride  being  a  deliberate  one,  I  felt,  after  the  third 
day,  a  little  wearied,  and  began  to  complain  of  the  sameness 
of  the  oak  openings,  and  to  wish  we  were  fairly  at  our 
2 


14  A    NEW    HOME, 

journey's  end.  We  were  crossing  a  broad  expanse  of  what 
seemed,  at  a  little  distance,  a  smooth  shaven  lawn  of  the 
most  brilliant  green,  but  which  proved  on  trial  little  better 
than  a  quaking  bog — embracing  within  its  ridgy  circum 
ference  all  possible  varieties  of 

'Muirs  and  mosses,  slaps  and  styles'— 

I  had  just  indulged  in  something  like  a  yawn,  and  wished 
that  I  could  see  our  hotel.  At  the  word,  my  companion's 
face  assumed  rather  a  comical  expression,  and  I  was  pre 
paring  to  inquire  somewhat  testily  what  there  was  so 
laughable — I  was  getting  tired  and  cross,  reader — when 
down  came  our  good  horse  to  the  very  chin  in  a  bog-hole, 
green  as  Erin  on  the  top,  but  giving  way  on  the  touch,  and 
seeming  deep  enough  to  have  engulfed  us  entirely,  if  its 
width  had  been  proportionate.  Down  came  the  horse — 
and  this  was  not  all — down  came  the  driver ;  and  I  could 
not  do  less  than  follow,  though  at  a  little  distance — our 
good  steed  kicking  and  floundering — covering  us  with 
hieroglyphics,  which  would  be  readily  deciphered  by  any 
Wolverine  we  should  meet,  though  perchance  strange  to 
the  eyes  of  our  friends  at  home.  This  mishap  was  soon 
amended.  Tufts  of  long  marsh  grass  served  to  assoilzie 
our  habiliments  a  little,  and  a  clear  stream  which  rippled 
through  the  marsh  aided  in  removing  the  eclipse  from  our 
faces.  We  journeyed  on  cheerily,  watching  the  splendid 
changes  in  the  west,  but  keeping  a  bright  look  out  for  bog- 
holes. 


WHO'LL    FOLLOW?  15 


CHAPTER   II. 

Think  us  no  churls,  nor  measure  our  good  minds 
By  this  rude  place  \ve  live  in. 

CYMBELINE. 

THE  sun  had  just  set  when  we  stopped  at  the  tavern, 
and  I  then  read  the  cause  of  my  companion's  quizzical  look. 
My  hotel  was  a  log-house,  of  diminutive  size,  with  cor 
responding  appurtenances ;  and  from  the  moment  we 
entered  its  door  I  was  in  a  fidget  to  know  where  we  could 
possibly  sleep.  I  was  then  new  in  Michigan.  Our  good 
hostess  rose  at  once  with  a  nod  of  welcome. 

'  Well !  is  this  Miss  Clavers !'  (my  husband  had  been 
there  before) — '  well !  I  want  to  know  !  why  do  tell  if  you 
have  been  upsot  in  the  mash  ?  why  I  want  to  know  ! — and 
did  n't  ye  hurt  ye  none  ?  Come,  gals,  fly  round,  and  let 's 
git  some  supper.' 

'  But  you  '11  not  be  able  to  lodge  us,  Mrs.  Danforth,'  said 
I,  glancing  at  three  young  men  and  some  boys,  who  appeared 
to  have  come  in  from  their  work,  and  who  were  lounging  on 
one  side  of  the  immense  open  chimney. 

'  Why,  bless  your  heart !  yes  I  shall ;  don't  you  fret 
yourself ;  I  '11  give  you  as  good  a  bed  as  anybody  need 
want.' 

I  cast  an  exploring  look,  and  now  discovered  a  door 
opposite  the  fire. 

'  Jist  step  in  here,'  said  Mrs.  Danforth,  opening  this  door, 


16  ANEWHOME, 

'jist  come  in  and  take  off  your  things,  and  lop  down,  if 
you  're  a  mind  to,  while  we  're  a  getting  supper.' 

I  followed  her  into  the  room,  if  room  it  might  be  called, 
a  strip  partitioned  off,  just  six  feet  wide,  so  that  a  bed  was 
accurately  fitted  in  at  each  end,  and  a  square  space  remained 
vacant  between  the  two. 

'  We  've  been  getting  this  room  made  lately,  and  I  tell 
you  it 's  real  nice,  so  private  like !'  said  our  hostess,  with  a 
complacent  air.  'Here,'  she  continued,  'in  this  bed  the 
gals  sleeps,  and  that 's  my  bed  and  the  old  man's  ;  and 
then  here  's  a  trundle-bed  for  Sally  and  Jane,'  and  suiting 
the  action  to  the  word,  she  drew  out  the  trundle-bed  as  far 
as  our  standing- place  would  allow,  to  show  me  how  con 
venient  it  was. 

Here  was  my  grand  problem  still  unsolved  !  If  '  me  and 
the  old  man,'  and  the  girls,  and  Sally  and  Jane,  slept  in  this 
strip,  there  certainly  could  be  no  room  for  more,  and  I 
thought  with  dismay  of  the  low-browed  roof,  which  had 
seemed  to  me  to  rest  on  the  tops  of  the  window-frames. 
And,  to  make  a  long  story  short,  though  manifold  were  the 
runnings  up  and  down,  and  close  the  whisperings,  before  all 
was  ready,  I  was  at  length  ushered  up  a  steep  and  narrow 
stick  ladder  into  the  sleeping  apartment.  Here,  surrounded 
by  beds  of  all  sizes  spread  on  the  floor,  was  a  bedstead, 
placed  under  the  peak  of  the  roof  in  order  to  gain  space 
for  its  height ;  and  round  this  state-bed,  for  such  it 
evidently  was,  although  not  supplied  with  pillows  at  each 
end,  all  the  men  and  boys  I  had  seen  below  stairs  were  to 
repose.  Sundry  old  quilts  were  fastened  by  forks  to  the 
rafters  in  such  a  way  as  to  serve  as  a  partial  screen,  and 
with  this  I  was  obliged  to  be  content.  Excessive  fatigue  is 
not  fastidious.  I  called  to  mind  some  canal-boat  expe- 


WHO'LL    FOLLOW?  17 

riences,  and  resigned  myself  to  the  '  honey-heavy  dew  of 
slumber.' 

I  awoke  with  a  sense  of  suffocation — started  up — all  was 
dark  as  the  Hall  of  Eblis.  I  called ;  no  answer  came ;  I 
shrieked  !  and  up  ran  one  of  the  'gals.' 

*  What  on  airth  's  the  matter  ?' 

1  Where  am  I  ?  What  ails  me  ?'  said  I,  beginning  to  feel 
a  little  awkward  when  I  heard  the  damsel's  voice. 

'  Why,  I  guess  you  was  scairt,  wa'n't  ye  ?' 

'  Why  am  I  in  the  dark  ?     Is  it  morning  ?' 

'  Morning?  why,  the  boys  has  been  gone  away  this  hour, 
and,  you  see,  there  a'n't  no  winder  up  here,  but  I  '11  take 
down  this  here  quilt,  and  then  I  guess  you  '11  be  able  to  see 
some.' 

She  did  so,  and  I  began  to  discern 

'  A  faint  shadow  of  uncertain  light,' 

which,  after  my  eyes  had  become  somewhat  accustomed  to 
it,  served  very  well  to  dress  by. 

Upon  descending  the  ladder,  I  found  our  breakfast  pre 
pared  on  a  very  neat-looking  table,  and  Mrs.  Danforth  with 
her  clean  apron  on,  ready  to  do  the  honors. 

Seeing  me  looking  round  with  inquiring  eye,  she  said, 
'  0,  you 'm  looking  for  a  wash-dish,  a'n't  ye?'  and  forth 
with  put  some  water  into  a  little  iron  skillet,  and  carried 
it  out  to  a  bench  which  stood  under  the  eaves,  where  I 
performed  my  very  limited  ablutions  al  fresco,  not  at  all 
pleased  with  this  part  of  country  habits. 

I  bethought  me  of  a  story  I  had  heard  before  we  crossed 
the  line,  of  a  gentleman  travelling  in  Michigan,  who,  instead 
of  a  '  wash-dish,'  was  directed  to  the  spring,  and  when  he 
requested  a  towel  received  for  answer — '  why,  I  should 
think  you  had  a  hankercher.' 


18  ANEW    HOM  E, 

After  breakfast  I  expressed  a  wish  to  accompany  Mr. 
Clavers  to  the  village  tract;  but  he  thought  a  very  bad 
marsh  would  make  the  ride  unpleasant. 

*  Lord  bless  ye !'  said  Mr.  Danforth,  '  that  mash  has  got 
a  real  handsome  bridge  over  it  since  you  was  here  last.' 

So  we  set  out  in  the  buggy  and  rode  several  miles 
through  an  alternation  of  open  glades  with  fine  walnut  trees 
scattered  over  them,  and  '  bosky  dells  *  fragrant  as  '  Araby 
the  blest '  at  that  delicious  hour,  when  the  dews  filled  the 
air  with  the  scent  of  the  bursting  leaves. 

By-and-by  we  came  to  the  '  beautiful  bridge,'  a  newly- 
laid  causeway  of  large  round  logs,  with  a  'slough  of 
despond  '  to  be  crossed,  in  order  to  reach  it.  I  would  not 
consent  to  turn  back,  however,  and  in  we  went,  the  buggy 
standing  it  most  commendably.  When  we  reached  the  first 
log  our  poor  Rozinante  stopped  in  utter  despair,  and  some 
persuasion  was  necessary  to  induce  him  to  rear  high  enough 
to  place  his  fore-feet  upon  the  bridge ;  and  when  he 
accomplished  this  feat,  and  after  a  rest  essayed  to  make  the 
buggy  rear  too,  it  was  neck  or  nothing.  Yet  up  we  went, 
and  then  came  the  severe  part  of  the  achievement,  a  '  beau 
tiful  bridge '  half  a  mile  long  ! 

Half  a  rod  was  enough  for  me ;  I  cried  for  quarter,  and 
was  permitted  to  pick  my  way  over  its  slippery  eminences, 
to  the  utter  annihilation  of  a  pair  of  Lane's  shoes. 


WHO'LL    FOLLOW?  10 


CHAPTER    III. 


The  greatness  of  an  estate,  in  bulk  and  territory,  doth  fall,  under  measure; 
and  the  greatness  of  finances  and  revenue  doth  fall,  under  computation.    * 
By  all  means  it  is  to  be  procured,  that  the  trunk  of  Nebuchadnezzar's  tree  of 
monarchy  be  great  enough  to  bear  the  branches  and  the  boughs. 

BACON. 


THE  morning  passed  in  viewing  and  reviewing  the  village 
site  and  the  '  mill  privilege,'  under  the  condescending 
guidance  of  a  regular  land  speculator,  into  whose  clutches 
....  but  I  anticipate. 

The  public  square,  the  water  lots,  the  value  per  foot  of 
this  undulating  surface,  clothed  as  it  then  was  with  burr- 
oaks,  and  haunted  by  the  red  deer :  these  were  almost  too 
much  for  my  gravity.  I  gave  my  views,  however,  as  to 
the  location  of  the  grand  esplanade,  and  particularly  re 
quested  that  the  fine  oaks  which  now  graced  it  might  be 
spared  when  the  clearing  process  commenced. 

1  Oh,  certainly,  mem  !'  said  our  D ousters wivel,  '  a  place 
that 's  designed  for  a  public  promenade  must  not  be  divest 
ed  of  shade  trees !'  Yet  I  believe  these  very  trees  were  the 
first  '  Banquos '  at  Montacute.  The  water  lots,  which  were 
too  valuable  to  sell  save  by  the  foot,  are  still  in  the  market, 
and  will  probably  remain  there  for  the  present. 

This  factotum,  this  Mr.  Hazard,  was  an  odd-looking 
creature,  with  *  diverse  ocular  foci,'  and  a  form  gaunt 
enough  to  personify  Grahamism.  His  words  sometimes 


20  ANEWHOME, 

flowed  in  measured  softness,  and  sometimes  tumbled  over 
each  other,  in  his  anxiety  to  convince,  to  persuade,  to 
inspire.  His  air  of  earnest  conviction,  of  sincere  anxiety  for 
your  interest,  and,  above  all,  of  entire  forgetfulness  of  his 
own,  was  irresistible.  People  who  did  not  know  him 
always  believed  every  word  he  said ;  at  least  so  I  have 
since  been  informed. 

This  gentleman  had  kindly  undertaken  to  lay  out  our 
village,  to  build  a  mill,  a  tavern,  a  store,  a  blacksmith's 
shop ;  houses  for  cooper,  miller,  &c.,  &c.,  to  purchase  the 
large  tracts  which  would  be  required  for  the  mill-pond,  a 
part  of  which  land  was  already  improved  ;  and  all  this, 
although  sure  to  cost  Mr.  Clavers  an  immense  sum,  he, 
from  his  experience  of  the  country,  his  large  dealings  with 
saw-mills,  &c.,  would  be  able  to  accomplish  at  a  very 
moderate  cost.  The  mill,  for  instance,  was  to  be  a  story 
and  a  half  high,  and  to  cost  perhaps  twenty-five  hundred 
dollars  at  the  utmost.  The  tavern,  a  cheap  building  of 
moderate  size,  built  on  the  most  popular  plan,  and  con 
nected  with  a  store,  just  large  enough  for  the  infant  needs 
of  the  village,  reserving  our  strength  for  a  splendid  one — I 
quote  Mr.  Mazard — to  be  built  out  of  the  profits  in  about 
three  years.  All  these  points  being  thus  satisfactorily 
arranged,  Mr.  Mazard  received  a  carte-blanche  for  the  pur 
chase  of  the  lands  which  were  to  be  flowed,  which  he  had 
ascertained  might  be  had  for  a  mere  trifle. 

The  principal  care  now  was  to  find  a  name — a  title  at  once 
simple  and  dignified — striking  and  euphonious — recherche 
and  yet  unpretending.  Mr.  Mazard  was  for  naming  it  after 
the  proprietor.  It  was  a  proper  opportunity,  he  thought, 
of  immortalizing  one's  self.  But  he  failed  in  convincing  the 
proprietor,  who  relished  not  this  form  of  fame,  and  who 


WHO'LL    FOLLOW?  21 

referred  the  matter  entirely  to  me.  Here  was  a  respon 
sibility  !  I  begged  for  time,  but  the  matter  must  be  decided 
at  once.  The  village  plot  was  to  be  drawn  instanter ; 
lithographed  and  circulated  through  the  United  States,  and, 
to  cap  the  climax,  printed  in  gold,  splendidly  framed,  and 
hung  up  in  Detroit,  in  the  place  '  where  merchants  most  do 
congregate.' 

I  tried  for  an  aboriginal  designation,  as  most  characteristic 
and  unworn.  I  recollected  a  young  lady  speaking  with 
enthusiastic  admiration  of  our  Indian  names,  and  quoting 
Ypsilanti  as  a  specimen.  But  I  was  not  fortunate  in  my 
choice ;  for  to  each  of  the  few  which  I  could  recollect, 
Mr.  Mazard  found  some  insuperable  objection.  One  was 
too  long,  another  signified  Slippery  Eel,  another  Big  Bubble; 
and  these  would  be  so  inappropriate !  I  began  to  be  very 
tired.  I  tried  romantic  names  ;  but  these  again  did  not 
suit  any  of  us.  At  length  I  decided  by  lot,  writing  ten  of 
the  most  sounding  names  I  could  muster  from  my  novel- 
reading  stores  on  slips  of  paper,  which  were  mingled  in  a 
shako,  and  out  came  MONTACUTE.  How  many  matters  of 
greater  importance  are  thus  decided ! 


22  ANEWHOME, 


CHAPTER    IV. 

As  I  am  recording   the  sacred  events  of  history,  I'll  not  bate  one  nail's 

breadth  of  the  honest  truth. 

IRVING — KNICKERBOCKER. 

Hope,  t.hou  bold  taster  of  delight, 

Who,  while  thou  should'st  but  taste,  devour'st  it  quite. 

COWLEY. 

MUCH  was  yet  to  be  done  this  morning,  and  I  was  too 
much  fatigued  to  wander  about  the  hills  any  longer ;  so  I 
sought  shelter  in  a  log-house  at  no  great  distance,  to  await 
the  conclusion  of  the  survey.  I  was  received  with  a  civil 
nod  by  the  tall  mistress  of  the  mansion,  and  with  a  curiously 
grave  and  somewhat  sweeping  curtsey  by  her  auburn-tressed 
daughter,  whose  hair  was  in  curl-papers,  and  her  hands 
covered  with  dough.  The  room  was  occupied  at  one  end 
by  two  large  beds  not  partitioned  off  '  private  like,'  but 
curtained  in  with  cotton  sheets  pinned  to  the  unhewn  rafters. 
Between  them  stood  a  chest,  and  over  the  chest  hung  the 
Sunday  wardrobe  of  the  family  ;  the  go-to-meeting  hats  and 
bonnets,  frocks  and  pantaloons  of  a  goodly  number  of  all 
sizes. 

The  great  open  hearth  was  at  the  opposite  end  of  the 
house,  flanked  on  one  side  by  an  open  cupboard,  and  on  the 
other  by  a  stick  ladder. 

Large  broadside  sheets,  caravan  show-bills,  were  pasted 
on  the  logs  in  different  places,  garnished  with  mammoth 
elephants  and  hippopotamuses,  over  which  «  predominated  ' 


WHO'LL    FOLLOW?  23 

Mr.  Van  Amburgh,  with  his  head  in  the  lion's  mouth.  A 
strip  of  dingy  listing  was  nailed  in  such  a  way  as  to  afford 
support  for  a  few  iron  spoons,  a  small  comb,  and  sundry 
other  articles  grouped  with  the  like  good  taste ;  but  I  must 
return  to  my  fair  hostesses. 

They  seemed  to  be  on  the  point  of  concluding  their 
morning  duties.  The  hearth  was  newly  swept,  a  tin  reflec 
tor  was  before  the  fire,  apparently  full  of  bread,  or  some 
thing  equally  important.  The  young  lady  was  placing 
some  cups  and  plates  in  a  pyramidal  pile  on  the  cupboard 
shelf,  when  the  mother,  after  taking  my  bonnet  with  grave 
courtesy,  said  something,  of  which  I  could  only  distinguish 
the  words  '  slick  up.' 

She  soon  after  disappeared  behind  one  of  the  white 
screens  I  have  mentioned,  and  in  an  incredibly  short  time 
emerged  in  a  different  dress.  Then  taking  down  the  comb 
I  have  hinted  at,  as  exalted  to  a  juxtaposition  with  the 
spoons,  she  seated  herself  opposite  to  me,  unbound  her 
very  abundant  brown  tresses,  and  proceeded  to  comb  them 
with  great  deliberateness ;  occasionally  speering  a  question 
at  me,  or  bidding  Miss  Irene  (pronounced  Ireen)  '  mind  the 
bread.'  When  she  had  finished,  Miss  Irene  took  the  comb 
and  went  through  the  same  exercise,  and  both  scattered 
the  loose  hairs  on  the  floor  with  a  coolness  that  made  me 
shudder  when  I  thought  of  my  dinner,  which  had  become, 
by  means  of  the  morning's  ramble,  a  subject  of  peculiar 
interest.  A  little  iron  '  wash-dish,'  such  as  I  had  seen  in 
the  morning,  was  now  produced ;  the  young  lady  vanished 
— re-appeared  in  a  scarlet  Circassian  dress,  and  more  combs 
in  her  hair  than  would  dress  a  belle  for  the  court  of  St. 
James ;  and  forthwith  both  mother  and  daughter  proceeded 
to  set  the  table  for  dinner. 


24  A    NEW    HOME, 

The  hot  bread  was  cut  into  huge  slices,  several  bowls  of 
milk  were  disposed  about  the  board,  a  pint  bowl  of  yellow 
pieties,  another  of  apple  sauce,  and  a  third  'containing 
mashed  potatoes,  took  their  appropriate  stations,  and  a  dish 
of  cold  fried  pork  was  brought  out  from  some  recess,  heated 
and  re-dished,  when  Miss  Irene  proceeded  to  blow  the 
horn. 

The  sound  seemed  almost  as  magical  in  its  effects  as  the 
whistle  of  Roderick  Dim ;  for,  solitary  as  the  whole  neigh 
borhood  had  appeared  to  me  in  the  morning,  not  many 
moments  elapsed  before  in  came  men  and  boys  enough  to 
fill  the  table  completely.  I  had  made  sundry  resolutions 
not  to  touch  a  mouthful ;  but  I  confess  I  felt  somewhat 
mortified  when  I  found  there  was  no  opportunity  to  refuse/*  ^ 

After  the  '  wash-dish '  had  been  used  in  turn,  and  vari 
ous  handkerchiefs  had  performed,  not  for  that  occasion, 
only,  the  part  of  towels,  the  lords  of  creation  seated  them 
selves  at  the  table,  and  fairly  demolished  in  grave  silence 
every  eatable  thing  on  it.  Then,  as  each  one  finished,  lie 
arose  and  walked  off,  till  no  one  remained  of  all  tin's 
goodly  company  but  the  red-faced,  heavy-eyed  master  of 
the  house.  This  personage  used  his  privilege  by  asking 
me  five  hundred  questions,  as  to  my  birth,  parentage,  and 
education ;  my  opinion  of  Michigan,  my  husband's  plans 
and  prospects,  business  and  resources ;  and  then  said,  '  he 
guessed  he  must  be  off.' 

Meanwhile  his  lady  and  daughter  had  been  clearing  the 
table,  and  were  now  preparing  to  wash  the  dishes  in  an 
iron  pot  of  very  equivocal-looking  soap  suds,  which  stood  in 
a  corner  of  the  chimney-place,  rinsing  each  piece  in  a  pan 
of  clean  water,  and  then  setting  it  to  '  dreen  '  on  a  chair.  I 
watched  the  process  with  no  increasing  admiration  of 


WHO'LL     FOLLOW?  25 

Michigan  economics ;  thought  wofully  of  dinner ;  and 
found  that  Mrs.  Danforth's  breakfast-table,  which  had 
appeared  in  the  morning  frugal  and  homely  enough,  was 
filling  my  mind's  eye  as  the  very  acme  of  comfort.  Every 
thing  is  relative. 

But  now  prospects  began  to  brighten  ;  the  tea-kettle  was 
put  on ;  the  table  was  spread  again  with  the  tea- equipage 
and  a  goodly  pile  of  still  warm  bread,  redolent  of  milk- 
yeast  ;  the  unfailing  bowls  of  apple  sauce  and  pickles,  a 
plate  of  small  cakes,  and  a  saucer  of  something  green  cut 
up  in  vinegar.  I  found  we  had  only  been  waiting  for  a  more 
lady-like  meal,  and  having  learned  wisdom  by  former  dis 
appointment,  I  looked  forward  with  no  small  satisfaction 
to  something  like  refreshment. 

The  tea  was  made  and  the  first  cup  poured,  when  in 
came  my  husband  and  Mr.  Mazard.  What  was  my  dismay 
when  I  heard  that  I  must  mount  and  away  on  the  instant ! 
The  buggy  at  the  door — the  sun  setting,  and  the  log- 
causeway,  and  the  black  slough  yet  to  be  encountered.  I 
could  not  obtain  a  moment's  respite,  and  I  will  not  pretend 
to  describe  my  vexation,  when  I  saw,  on  looking  back,  our 
projector  already  seated  at  my  predestined  cup  of  tea,  and 
busily  engaged  with  my  slice  of  bread  and  butter. 

I  walked  over  the  logs  in  no  very  pleasant  mood,  and 
when  we  reached  the  slough  it  looked  blacker  than  ever.  I 
could  not  possibly  screw  up  my  fainting  courage  to  pass  it 
in  the  carriage,  and  after  some  difficulty,  a  slender  pole  was 
found,  by  means  of  which  I  managed  to  get  across,  think 
ing  all  the  while  of  the  bridge  by  which  good  Mussulmans 
skate  into  paradise,  and  wishing  for  no  houri  but  good  Mrs. 
Danforth. 

We  reached  the  inn  after  a  ride  which  would  have  been 


26  A    NEW    HOME, 

delicious  under  other  circumstances.  The  softest  and  still 
est  of  spring  atmospheres,  the  crimson  rays  yet  prevailing, 
and  giving  an  opal  changefulness  of  hue  to  the  half-opened 
leaves ; 

'  The  grass  beneath  them  dimly  green ;' 

could  scarcely  pass  quite  unfelt  by  one  whose  delight  is  in 
their  beauty;  but,  alas,  who  can  be  sentimental  and 
hungry  ! 

I  alighted  with  gloomy  forebodings.  The  house  was 
dark — could  it  be  that  the  family  had  already  stowed 
themselves  away  in  their  crowded  nests  ?  The  fire  was 
buried  in  ashes,  the  tea-kettle  was  cold — I  sat  down  in  the 
corner  and  cried 

I  was  awakened  from  a  sort  of  doleful  trance  by  the 
voice  of  our  cheery  hostess. 

'  Why,  do  tell  if  you  've  had  no  supper  !  Well,  I  want 
to  know  !  I  went  off  to  meetin'  over  to  Joe  Bunner's  and 
never  left  nothing  ready.' 

But  in  a  space  of  time  which  did  not  seem  long  even  to 
me,  my  cup  of  tea  was  on  the  table,  and  the  plate  of  snow- 
white  rolls  had  no  reason  to  complain  of  our  neglect  or 
indifference. 


W  H  O  '  L  L    F  0  L  L  O  VV  ?  <J7 


CHAPTER    V. 

Such  soon-speeding  geer 
As  will  dispense  itself  through  all  the  veins. 

SHAKSPEA.RK. 

By  her  help  I  also  now 

Make  this  churlish  place  allow 

Some  things  that  may  sweeten  gladness 

In  the  very  heart  of  sadness. 

WITHERS. 

THE  next  day  I  was  to  spend  in  the  society  of  my  host 
ess  ;  and  I  felt  in  no  haste  to  quit  my  eyrie,  although  it 
was  terribly  close,  but  waited  a  call  from  one  of  the  little 
maidens  before  I  attempted  my  twilight  toilet.  When  I 
descended  the  ladder,  nobody  was  visible  but  the  woman 
kind. 

After  breakfast  Mrs.  Danforth  mentioned  that  she  was 
going  about  a  mile  into  the  woods  to  visit  a  neighbor  whose 
son  had  been  bitten  by  a  massisaugas,  (I  spell  the  word  by 
ear),  and  was  not  expected  to  live. 

I  inquired  of  course — '  Why,  law  !  it 's  a  rattlesnake  ; 
the  Indians  call  them  massisaugas,  and  so  folks  calls  'em 
so  too.' 

'  Are  they  often  seen  here  ?' 

'  Why,  no  not  very ;  as  far  from  the  mash  as  this.  I 
han't  seen  but  two  this  spring,  and  them  was  here  in  the 
garden,  and  I  killed  'em  both.' 

'  You  killed  them  !' 

'  Why,   law,  yes  ! — Betsey  come  in  one  night  after  tea 


28  ANEWHOME, 

and  told  me  on  'em,  and  we  went  out,  and  she  held  the 
candle  while  I  killed  them.  But  I  tell  you  we  had  a  real 
chase  after  them  !' 

My  desire  for  a  long  walk  through  the  woods  was  some 
what  cooled  by  this  conversation  ;  nevertheless,  upon  the 
good  dame's  reiterated  assurance  that  there  was  no  danger, 
and  that  she  would  'as  lief  meet  forty  on  'em  as  not,'  I 
consented  to  accompany  her,  and  our  path  through  the  dim 
forest  was  as  enchanting  as  one  of  poor  Shelley's  gemmed 
and  leafy  dreams.  The  distance  seemed  nothing,  and  I 
scarcely  remembered  the  rattlesnakes. 

We  found  the  poor  boy  in  not  quite  so  sad  a  case  as  had 

been  expected.  A  physician  had  arrived  from , 

about  fourteen  miles  off,  and  had  brought  with  him  a 
quantity  of  spirits  of  hartshorn,  with  which  the  poisoned 
limb  had  now  been  constantly  bathed  for  some  hours,  .while 
frequent  small  doses  of  the  same  specific  had  been  admin 
istered.  This  course  had  produced  a  change,  and  the  pale 
and  weary  mother  had  begun  to  hope. 

This  boy  had  been  fishing  in  the  stream  which  was  to 
make  the  fortune  of  Montacute,  and  in  kneeling  to  search 
for  bait  had  roused  the  snake  which  bit  him  just  above  the 
knee.  The  entire  limb  was  frightfully  swollen  and  covered 
with  large  livid  spots  '  exactly  like  the  snake,'  as  the  woman 
stated  with  an  air  of  mysterious  meaning. 

When  I  saw  the  body  of  the  snake,  which  the  father  had 
found  without  difficulty,  and  killed  very  near  the  scene  of  the 
accident— so  slow  are  these  creatures  generally — I  found 
it  difficult  to  trace  the  resemblance  between  its  brilliant 
colors  and  the  purplish  brown  blotches  on  the  poor  boy's 
leg.  But  the  superstition  once  received,  imagination  sup 
plies  all  deficiencies.  A  firm  belief  in  some  inscrutable 


WHO'LL    FOLLOW?  29 

connexion  between  the  spots  on  the  snake  and  the  spots  on 
the  wounded  person  is  universal  in  this  region,  as  I  have 
since  frequently  heard. 

During  our  walk  homeward,  sauntering  as  we  did  to  pro 
long  the  enjoyment,  my  hostess  gave  me  a  little  sketch  of 
her  own  early  history,  and  she  had  interested  me  so  strong 
ly  by  her  unaffected  kindliness,  and  withal  a  certain  dash  of 
espieglerie,  that  I  listened  to  the  homely  recital  with  a 
good  deal  of  pleasure. 

'I  was  always  pretty  lucky,'  she  began — and  as  I  looked 
at  her  benevolent  countenance  with  its  broad  expansive 
brow  and  gentle  eyes,  I  thought  such  people  are  apt  to  be 
*  lucky '  even  in  this  world  of  disappointments. 

'  My  mother  did  n't  live  to  bring  me  up,'  she  continued, 
'  but  a  man  by  the  name  of  Spangler,  that  had  no  children, 
took  me  and  did  for  me  as  if  I  had  been  his  own ;  sent  me 
to  school  and  all.  His  wife  was  a  real  mother  to  me.  She 
was  a  weakly  woman,  hardly  ever  able  to  sit  up  all  day.  I 
do  n't  believe  she  ever  spun  a  hank  of  yarn  in  her  life  ;  but 
she  was  a  proper  nice  woman,  and  Spangler  loved  her  just 
as  well  as  if  she  had  been  ever  so  smart.' 

Mrs.  Danforth  seemed  to  dwell  on  this  point  in  her 
friend's  character  with  peculiar  respect, — that  he  should 
love  a  wife  who  could  not  do  her  own  work.  I  could  not 
help  telling  her  she  reminded  me  of  a  man  weeping  for  the 
loss  of  his  partner — his  neighbors  trying  to  comfort  him,  by 
urging  the  usual  topics ;  he  cut  them  short,  looking  up  at 
the  same  time  with  an  inconsolable  air — '  Ah  !  but  she  was 
such  a  dreadful  good  creature  to  work  !' 

Mrs.  Danforth  said  gravely,  'Well,  I  suppose  the  poor 
feller  had  a  family  of  children  to  do  for;'  and  after  a  reflec 
tive  pause  continued — '  Well,  Miss  Spangler  had  a  little 
3* 


30  ANEWHOME, 

one  after  all,  when  I  was  quite  a  big  girl,  and  you  never 
see  folks  so  pleased  as  they  !  Mr.  Spangler  seemed  as  if 
he  could  not  find  folks  enough  to  be  good  to,  that  winter. 
He  had  the  prayers  of  the  poor,  I  tell  ye.  There  was  n't  a 
baby  born  anywheres  in  our  neighborhood,  that  whole 
blessed  winter,  but  what  he  found  out  whether  the  mother 
had  what  would  make  her  comfortable,  and  sent  whatever 
was  wanted. 

'  He  little  thought  that  baby  that  he  thought  so  much 
on  was  going  to  cost  him  so  dear.  His  wife  was  never  well 
again !  She  only  lived  through  the  summer  and  died  when 
the  frost  came,  just  like  the  flowers ;  and  he  never  held  up 
his  head  afterwards.  He  had  been  a  professor  for  a  good 
many  years,  but  he  did  n't  seem  then  to  have  neither  faith 
nor  hope.  He  wouldn't  hear  reason  from  nobody.  I 
always  thought  that  was  the  reason  the  baby  died.  It 
only  lived  about  a  year.  Well,  I  had  the  baby  to  bring  up 
by  hand,  and  so  I  was  living  there  yet  when  Mr.  Spangler 
took  sick.  He  seemed  always  like  a  broken-hearted  man, 
but  still  he  took  comfort  with  the  baby,  and  by  and  by  the 
little  dear  took  the  croup  and  died  all  in  a  minute  like.  It 
began  to  be  bad  after  tea  and  it  was  dead  before  sunrise. 
Then  I  saw  plain  enough  nothing  could  be  done  for  the 
father.  He  wasted  away  just  like  an  April  snow.  I  took 
as  good  care  on  him  as  I  could,  and  when  it  came  towards 
the  last,  he  would  n't  have  any  body  else  give  him  even  so 
much  as  a  cup  of  tea.  He  settled  up  his  business  and  gave 
receipts  to  many  poor  folks  that  owed  him  small  debts, 
besides  giving  away  a  great  many  things,  and  paying  all 
those  that  had  helped  take  care  of  him.  I  think  he  knew 
what  kind  of  a  feller  his  nephew  was,  that  was  to  have  all 
when  he  was  gone. 


WHO'LL    FOLLOW?  31 

'  Well,  all  this  is  neither  here  nor  there.  George  Dan- 
forth  and  I  had  been  keeping  company  then  a  good  while, 
and  Mr.  Spangler  knew  we'd  been  only  waiting  till  I  could 
be  spared,  so  he  sent  for  George  one  day  and  told  him  that 
he  had  long  intended  to  give  me  a  small  house  and  lot  jist 
back  of  where  he  lived,  but  seein'  things  stood  jist  as  they 
did,  he  advised  George  to  buy  a  farm  of  his  that  was  for 
sale  on  the  edge  of  the  village,  and  he  would  credit  him  for 
as  much  as  the  house  and  lot  woujd  have  been  worth,  and 
he  could  pay  the  rest  by  his  labor  in  the  course  of  two  or 
three  years.  Sure  enough,  he  gave  him  a  deed  and  took  a 
mortgage,  and  it  was  so  worded,  that  he  could  not  be 
hurried  to  pay,  and  every  body  said  it  was  the  greatest 
bargain  that  ever  was.  And  Mr.  Spangler  gave  me  a  nice 

settin  out  besides. But  if  there  is  n't  the  boys  coming  in 

to  dinner,  and  I  bet  there  's  nothin  ready  for  'em  !'  So 
saying,  the  good  woman  quickened  her  pace,  and  for  the 
next  hour  her  whole  attention  was  absorbed  by  the  '  savory 
cates,'  fried  pork  and  parsnips. 


32  A    NEW    HOME, 


CHAPTER    VI. 

A  trickling  stream  from  high  rock  tumbling  down, 

And  ever  drizzling  rain  upon  the  loft, 

Mixt  with  a  murmuring  wind,  much  like  the  sound 

Of  swarming  bees. 

SPENSER — HOUSE  OF  SLEEP. 

While  pensive  memory  traces  back  the  round 

Which  fills  the  varied  interval  between; 

Much  pleasure,  more  of  sorrow,  marks  the  scene. 

WARTON. 

WHEN  we  were  quietly  seated  after  dinner,  I  requested 
some  further  insight  into  Mrs.  Danforth's  early  history,  the 
prosy  flow  of  which  was  just  in  keeping  with  the  long 
dreamy  course  of  the  afternoon,  unbroken  as  it  was  by  any 
sound  more  awakening  than  the  ceaseless  click  of  knitting- 
needles,  or  an  occasional  yawn  from  the  town  lady,  who 
found  the  farniente  rather  burdensome. 

She  smiled  complacently,  and  took  up  the  broken  thread 
at  the  right  place,  evidently  quite  pleased  to  find  she  had 
excited  so  much  interest. 

'  When  Mr.  Spangler's  nephew  came  after  he  was  dead 
and  gone,  he  was  very  close  in  asking  all  about  the  business, 
and  seem'  after  the  mortgages  and  such  like.  Now,  George 
had  never  got  his  deed  recorded.  He  felt  as  if  it  was  n't 
worth  while  to  lose  a  day's  work,  as  he  could  send  it  any 
time  by  one  of  his  neighbors.  But  when  we  found  what 
sort  of  a  man  Mr.  Wilkins  was,  we  tho't  it  was  high  time  to 


WHO'LL    FOLLOW?  33 

set  about  it.  He  had  talked  a  good  deal  about  the  place, 
and  said  the  old  man  must  have  been  crazy  to  let  us  have  it 
so  cheap,  and  once  went  so  far  as  to  offer  my  husband  a 
hundred  dollars  for  his  bargain.  So  John  Green,  a  good 
neighbor  of  ours,  sent  us  word  one  morning  that  he  was 
going,  and  would  call  and  get  the  deed,  as  he  knew  we 
wanted  to  send  it  up,  and  I  got  it  out  and  laid  it  ready  on 
the  stand,  and  put  the  big  Bible  on  it  to  keep  it  safe.  But 
he  did  not  come ;  something  happened  that  he  could  not  go 
that  day :  and  I  had  jist  took  up  the  deed  to  put  it  back  in 
the  chest,  when  in  came  Wilkins.  He  had  an  eye  like  a 
hawk ;  and  I  was  afraid  he  would  see  that  it  was  a  deed, 
and  ask  to  look  at  it,  and  then  I  could  n't  refuse  to  hand  it 
to  him,  you  know  ;  so  I  jist  slipped  it  back  under  the  Bible 
before  I  turned  to  ask  him  what  was  his  will. 

' '  Did  n't  John  Saunderson  leave  my  bridle  here  ?'  says 
he.  So  I  stepped  into  the  other  room  and  got  it,  and  he 
took  it  and  walked  off  without  speaking  a  word  ;  and  when 
I  went  to  put  away  the  deed,  it  was  gone  ! 

'  My  husband  came  in  while  I  sat  crying  fit  to  break  my 
heart ;  but  all  I  could  do  I  could  not  make  him  believe  that 
Wilkins  had  got  it.  He  said  I  had  put  it  somewhere  else 
without  thinking,  that  people  often  felt  just  as  sure  as  I 
did,  and  found  themselves  mistaken  after  all.  But  I  knew 
better,  and  though  I  hunted  high  and  low  to  please  him,  I 
knew  well  enough  where  it  was.  When  he  found  he  must 
give  it  up  he  never  gave  me  a  word  of  blame,  but  charged 
me  not  to  say  anything  about  the  loss,  for,  wherever  the 
deed  was,  Wilkins  was  just  the  man  to  take  advantage  if 
he  knew  we  had  lost  it. 

'  Well,  things  went  on  this  way  for  a  while,  and  I  had 
many  a  good  cryin'  spell,  I  tell  ye !  and  one  evening  when 


34  ANBWHOMB, 

George  was  away,  in  comes  Wilkins,  I  was  sittin'  alone  at 
my  knittin',  heavy  hearted  enough,  and  the  schoolmaster 
was  in  the  little  room ;  for  that  was  his  week  to  board 
with  us. 

' '  Is  your  man  at  home  ?'  says  he ;  I  said — No  ;  but  I 
expect  him  soon,  so  he  sat  down  and  began  the  old  story 
about  the  place,  and  at  last  he  says, 

* '  I  'd  like  to  look  at  that  deed  if  you  Ve  no  objection* 
Mrs.  Danforth.'  I  was  so  mad,  I  forgot  what  George  had 
told  me,  and  spoke  right  out. 

'  I  should  think,  says  I,  you  'd  had  it  long  enough  to 
know  it  all  by  heart.' 

' '  What  does  the  woman  mean  ?'  says  he. 

*  You  know  well  enough  what  I  mean,  says  I,  you  know 
you  took  it  off  this  table,  and  from  under  this  blessed  book, 
the  very  last  time  you  was  in  this  house. 

'  If  I  had  not  known  it  before,  I  should  have  been  cer 
tain  then,  for  his  face  was  as  white  as  the  wall,  and  he 
trembled  when  he  spoke  in  spite  of  his  impudence.  But 
I  could  have  bit  off  my  own  tongue  when  I  tho't  how  im 
prudent  I  had  been,  and  what  my  husband  would  say.  He 
talked  very  angry  as  you  may  think. 

' '  Only  say  that  where  anybody  else  can  hear  you,'  says 
he,  '  and  I  '11  will  make  it  cost  your  husband  all  he  is  worth 
in  the  world.' 

'  He  spoke  so  loud  that  Mr.  Peeler,  the  master,  came  out 
of  the  room  to  see  what  was  the  matter,  and  Wilkins  bullied 
away  and  told  Peeler  what  I  had  said,  and  dared  me  to  say 
it  over  again.  The  master  looked  as  if  he  knew  something 
about  it  but  did  not  speak.  Just  then  the  door  opened, 
and  in  came  George  Danforth,  led  between  two  men,  as 
pale  as  death,  and  dripping  wet  from  head  to  foot.  You 


WHO'LL    FOLLOW?  35 

may  think  how  I  felt !  Well,  they  would  n't  give  no 
answer  about  what  was  the  matter  till  they  got  George  into 
bed — only  one  of  'em  said  he  had  been  in  the  canal. 
Wilkins  pretended  to  be  too  angry  to  notice  my  husband, 
but  kept  talking  away  to  himself — and  was  jist  a  beginning 
at  me  again,  when  one  of  the  men  said,  '  Squire,  I  guess 
Henry '11  want  some  looking  after;  for  Mr.  Danforth  has 
just  got  him  out  of  the  water.' 

'  If  I  live  to  be  a  hundred  years  old,  I  shall  never  forget 
how  Wilkins  looked.  There  was  everything  in  his  face  at 
once.  He  seemed  as  if  he  would  pitch  head-foremost  out 
of  the  door,  when  he  started  to  go  home — for  Henry  was 
his  only  child. 

*  When  he  was  gone,  and  my  husband  had  got  warm  and 
recovered  himself  a  little,  he  told  us  that  he  had  seen  Henry 
fall  into  the  lock,  and  soused  right  in  after  him,  and  they 
had  come  very  hear  drowning  together,  and  so  stayed  in  so 
long  that  they  were  about  senseless  when  they  got  into  the 
air  again.  Then  I  told  him  all  that  had  happened — and 
then  Peeler,  he  up,  and  told  that  he  saw  Wilkins  take  a 
paper  off  the  stand  the  time  I  opened  the  bed-room  door  to 
get  the  bridle,  for  he  was  at  our  house  then. 

'  I  was  very  glad  to  hear  it,  to  be  sure ;  but  the  very- 
next  morning  came  a  new  deed  and  the  mortgage,  with  a 
few  lines  from  Mr.  Wilkins,  saying  how  thankful  he  was, 
and  that  he  hoped  George  would  oblige  him  by  accepting 
some  compensation.  George  sent  back  the  mortgage,  say 
ing  he  would  rather  not  take  it,  but  thanked  him  kindly  for 
the  deed.  So  then  I  was  glad  Peeler  had  n't  spoke,  'cause 
it  would  have  set  Wilkins  against  him.  After  that  we 
thought  it  was  best  to  sell  out  and  come  away,  for  such 


36  A    NEW    HOME, 

feelings,  you  know,  a'in't  pleasant  among  neighbors,  and  we 
had  talked  some  of  coming  to  Michigan  afore. 

'  We  had  most  awful  hard  times  at  first.  Many  's  the  day 
I  've  worked  from  sunrise  till  dark  in  the  fields,  gathering 
brush-heaps  and  burning  stumps.  Eut  that 's  all  over  now ; 
and  we  Ve  got  four  times  as  much  land  as  we  ever  should 
have  owned  in  York  state/ 

I  have  since  had  occasion  to  observe  that  this  forms  a 
prominent  and  frequent  theme  of  self-gratulation  among  the 
settlers  in  Michigan.  The  possession  of  a  large  number  of 
acres  is  esteemed  a  great  good,  though  it  makes  but  little 
difference  in  the  owner's  mode  of  living.  Comforts  do  not 
seem  to  abound  in  proportion  to  landed  increase,  but  often, 
on  the  contrary,  are  ^really  diminished  for  the  sake  of  it ; 
and  the  habit  of  selling  out  so  frequently,  makes  that  home- 
feeling,  which  is  so  large  an  ingredient  in  happiness  else 
where,  almost  a  nonentity  in  Michigan.  The  man  \vho 
holds  himself  ready  to  accept  the  first  advantageous  offer, 
will  not  be  very  solicitous  to  provide  those  minor  accommo 
dations,  which,  though  essential  to  domestic  comfort,  will  not 
add  to  the  moneyed  value  of  his  farm,  which  he  considers 
merely  an  article  of  trade,  and  which  he  knows  his  successor 
will  look  upon  in  the  same  light.  I  have  sometimes  thought 
that  our  neighbors  forget  that  '  the  days  of  man's  life  are 
three  score  years  and  ten,'  since  they  sp*end  all  their  lives  in 
getting  ready  to  begin. 


WHO'LL    FOLLOW?  37 


CHAPTER   VII. 


Offer  me  no  money,  I  pray  you ;  that  kills  my  heart.  *  *  * 

Will  you  buy  any  tape 
Or  lace  for  your  cape, 
My  dainty  duck,  my  dear-a? 
Any  silk,  any  thread, 
Any  toys  for  your  head, 
Of  the  newest  and  finest  wear-a  ? 

SHAKSPEARE— WINTER'S  TALE. 


OUR  return  to  Detroit  was  accomplished  without  any 
serious  accident,  although  we  were  once  overturned  in  con 
sequence  of  my  enthusiastic  admiration  of  a  tuft  of  splendid 
flowers  in  a  marsh  which  we  were  crossing  by  the  usual 
bridge  of  poles,  or  corduroy,  as  it  is  here  termed. 

While  our  eyes  were  fixed  upon  it,  and  I  was  secretly 
determined  not  to  go  on  without  it,  our  sober  steed,  seeing 
a  small  stream  at  a  little  distance  on  one  side,  quietly 
walked  towards  it,  and  our  attention  was  withdrawn  from 
the  contemplation  of  the  object  of  my  wishes  by  finding 
ourselves  spilt  into  the  marsh,  and  the  buggy  reposing  on 
its  side,  while  the  innocent  cause  of  the  mischief  was  fairly 
planted,  fetlock  deep,  in  the  tenacious  black  mud;  I  say 
the  innocent  cause,  for  who  ever  expected  any  proofs  of 
education  from  a  livery-stable  beast? — and  such  was  our 
brown  friend. 

'T  were  vain  to  tell  how  I  sat  on  the  high  bog,  (the  large 
tufted  masses  in  a  marsh  are  so  called  in  Michigan,)  which 
4 


38  A   NEW  HQ MB, 

had  fortunately  received  me  in  falling,  and  laughed  till  I 
cried  to  see  my  companion  hunting  for  his  spectacles,  and 
D'Orsay  (whom  I  ought  sooner  to  have  introduced  to  my 
reader)  looking  on  with  a  face  of  most  evident  wonder. 
D'Orsay,  my  beautiful  greyhound,  was  our  compagnon  de 
voyage,  and  had  caused  us  much  annoyance  by  his  erratic 
propensities,  so  we  were  obliged  to  tie  him  in  the  back  part 
of  the  buggy,  and  then  watch  very  closely  that  he  did  not 
free  himself  of  his  bonds. 

Just  at  this  moment  a  pedestrian  traveller,  a  hard- 
featured,  yellow-haired  son  of  New-England,  came  up,  with 
a  tin  trunk  in  his  hand,  and  a  small  pack  or  knapsack 
strapped  on  his  shoulders. 

*  Well !  I  swan  !'  said  he  with  a  grim  smile,  '  I  never  see 
any  thing  slicker  than  that !  Why,  you  went  over  jist  as 
easy  !  You  was  goin'  to*  try  if  the  mash  would  n't  be  softer 
ridin',  I  s'pose.' 

Mr.  Clavers  disclaimed  any  intention  of  quitting  the 
causeway,  and  pointed  to  my  unfortunate  pyramid  of  pale 
pink  blossoms  as  the  cause  of  our  disaster. 

'  What !  them  posies  ?  Why,  now,  to  my  thinking,  a 
good  big  double  marygold  is  as  far  before  them  pink  lilies 
as  can  be :  but  I  '11  see  if  I  can't  get  'em  for  you  if  you 
want  'em.' 

By  this  time,  the  carriage  was  again  in  travelling  trim, 
and  D'Orsay  tolerably  resigned  to  his  imprisoned  state. 
The  flowers  were  procured,  and  most  delicately  beautiful 
and  fragrant  they  were. 

Mr.  Clavers  offered  guerdon, — remuneration, — but  our 
oriental  friend  seemed  shy  of  accepting  anything  of  the  sort. 

'  If  you  've  a  mind  to  trade,  I  've  got  a  lot  o'  notions 
I'd  like  to  sell  you,'  said  he. 


WHO'LL    FOLLOW?  39 

So  my  travelling  basket  was  crammed  with  essences, 
pins,  brass  thimbles,  and  balls  of  cotton  ;  while  Mr.  Clavers 
possessed  himself  of  a  valuable  outfit  of  pocket  combs, 
suspenders  and  cotton  handkerchiefs — an  assortment  which 
made  us  very  popular  on  that  road  for  some  time  after. 

We  reached  the  city  in  due  time,  and  found  our  hotel 
crowded  to  suffocation.  The  western  fever  was  then  at 
its  height,  and  each  day  brought  its  thousands  to  Detroit. 
Every  tavern  of  every  calibre  was  as  well  filled  as  ours, 
and  happy  he  who  could  find  a  bed  anywhere.  Fifty 
cents  was  the  price  of  six  feet  by  two  of  the  bar-room 
floor,  and  these  choice  lodgings  were  sometimes  disposed 
of  by  the  first  served  at  '  thirty  per  cent,  advance/  The 
country  inns  were  thronged  in  proportion ;  and  your 
horse's  hay  cost  you  no  where  less  than  a  dollar  per  diem  ; 
while,  throughout  the  whole  territory  west  of  Detroit, 
the  only  masticable  articles  set  before  the  thousands  of 
hungry  travellers  were  salt  ham  and  bread,  for  which 
you  had  the  satisfaction  of  paying  like  a  prince. 


40  ANEWHOME, 


CHAPTER   VIII. 

Notre  sagesse  n'est  pas  moins  d  la  merci  de  la  fortune  que  nos  biens. 

ROCHEFOUCAULT. 

Your  horse's  hoof-tread  sounds  too  rude, 

So  stilly  is  the  solitude.  SCOTT. 

OUR  breakfast-table  at  H House  was  surrounded 

by  as  motley  a  crew  as  Mirth  ever  owned.  The  stand 
ing  ornament  of  the  upper  end  was  a  very  large  light 
blue  crape  turban,  which  turban  surmounted  the  pro 
longed  face  of  a  lady,  somewhere  (it  is  not  polite  to  be 
exact  in  these  matters)  between  forty  and  fifty,  and  also 
partly  concealed  a  pair  of  ears  from  which  depended 
ear-rings  whose  pendents  rested  not  far  from  the  Apa- 
lachian  collar-bones  of  the  dignified  wearer.  This  lady, 
turban  and  ear-rings,  were  always  in  their  places  before 
the  eggs  came,  and  remained  long  after  the  last  one  had 
disappeared, — at  least,  I  judge  so  ;  for  I,  who  always 
take  my  chance  (rash  enough  in  this  case)  for  a  breakfast, 
never  saw  her  seat  vacant.  Indeed,  as  I  never  met  her 
anywhere  else,  I  might  have  supposed  her  a  fixture, 
the  production  of  some  American  Maelzel,  but  that  the 
rolling  of  her  very  light  grey  eyes  was  quite  different  from 
that  of  the  dark  Persian  orbs  of  the  chess-player  ;  while 
an  occasional  word  came  to  my  ear  with  a  sharp  sound, 
even  more  startling  than  the  *  Echec  '  of  that  celebrated 
personage. 


WHO'LL    FOLLOW?  41 

Another  very  conspicuous  member  of  our  usual  party 
was  a  lady  in  mourning,  whom  I  afterwards  discovered  to 
be  a  great  beauty.  I  had  indeed  observed  that  she  wore 
a  great  many  curls,  and  that  these  curls  were  carefully 
arranged  and  bound  with  a  ribbon,  so  as  to  make  the 
most  of  a  pair  of  dark  eyes ;  that  nothing  that  could  be 
called  throat  was  ever  enviously  shaded,  even  at  break 
fast  ;  and  that  a  pair  of  delicately  white  hands,  loaded 
with  rings  of  all  hues,  despite  the  mourning  garments, 
were  never  out  of  sight.  But  I  did  not  learn  that  she 
was  a  beauty  till  I  met  her  long  after  at  a  brilliant  evening 
party  in  rouge  and  blonde,  and  with  difficulty  recognized 
ray  neighbor  of  the  breakfast-table. 

But  if  I  should  attempt  to  set  down  half  my  recollec 
tions  of  i\\&t  piquant  and  changeful  scene,  I  should  never 
get  on  with  my  story  :  so,  begging  pardon,  I  will  pass 
over  the  young  ladies,  who  never  were  hungry,  and  their 
papas,  who  could  never  be  satisfied,  and  their  brothers, 
who  could  not  get  anything  fit  to  eat ;  the  crimson-faced 
celibataire,  who  always  ate  exactly  three  eggs,  and  three 
slices  of  bread  and  butter,  and  drank  three  cups  of  tea, 
and  then  left  the  table,  performing  the  whole  in  perfect 
silence  ;  the  lady,  who  played  good  mamma,  and  would 
ever  have  her  two  babies  at  the  table  with  her,  and  feed 
them  on  sausage  and  strong  coffee,  without  a  mouthful  of 
bread  ;  and  the  shoals  of  speculators,  fat  and  lean,  rich 
and  poor,  young  and  old,  dashing  and  shabby,  who  always 
looked  very  hungry,  but  could  not  take  time  to  eat.  I  saw 
them  only  at  breakfast,  for  the  rest  of  the  day  we  usually 
spent  elsewhere. 

While  we  were  awaiting  the  arrival  of  our  chattels  from 
the  east,  Mr  Clavers  accepted  an  invitation  to  accompany 


42  ANEWHOME, 

a  party  of  these  breakfast-table  companions  last  mentioned, 
men  of  substance  literally  and  figuratively,  who  were  going 
to  make  a  tour  with  a  view  to  the  purchase  of  one  or  two 
cities.  Ponies,  knapsacks,  brandy-bottles,  pocket-com 
passes,  blankets,  lucifers,  great  india-rubber  boots,  coats 
of  the  same,  and  caps  with  immense  umbrella  capes  to 
them :  these  things  are  but  a  beginning  of  the  outfit  neces 
sary  for  such  an  expedition.  It  was  intended  to  '  camp 
out'  as  often  as  might  be  desirable,  to  think  nothing  of 
fasting  for  a  day  or  so,  and  to  defy  the  ague  and  all  its 
works  by  the  aid  of  the  potent  exorciser  contained  in  the 
bottles  above  mentioned.  One  of  the  company,  an  idler 

from ,  was  almost  as  keen  in  his  pursuit  of  game  as 

of  money,  and  he  carried  a  double-barrelled  fowling-piece, 
with  all  things  thereunto  appertaining,  in  addition v  to  his 
other  equipments,  giving  a  finishing  touch  to  the  grotesque 
cortege.  My  only  parting  charge  to  my  quota  of  the  expe 
dition  was  to  keep  out  of  the  water,  and  to  take  care  of 
his  spectacles.  I  should  have  cautioned  him  against  buying 
a  city,  but  that  he  was  never  very  ambitious,  and  already 
owned  Montacute.  He  went  merely  pour  se  dcsennuyer  ; 
and  I  remained  at  the  very  focus  of  this  strange  excitement 
an  unconcerned  spectator,  weary  enough  of  the  unvarying 
theme  which  appeared  to  fill  the  whole  soul  of  the  commu 
nity. 

The  party  were  absent  just  four  days ;  and  a  more  dismal 
sight  than  they  presented  on  their  return  cannot  well  be 
imagined.  Tired  and  dirty,  cross  and  hungry,  were  they 
all.  No  word  of  adventures,  no  boasting  of  achievements, 
not  even  a  breath  of  the  talismanic  word  '  land,'  more  inter 
esting  to  the  speculator  of  1835-6  than  it  ever  was  to  the 
ship-wrecked  mariner.  They  seemed  as  if  they  would, 


WHO'LL     FOLLOW?  43 

Esau-like,  have  sold  their  city  lots  for  a  good  supper,  though 
I  doubt  whether  the  offer  of  a  'trade,' would  not  have 
aroused  all  their  energies,  and  so  prevented  the  bargain. 

After  tea,  however,  things  brightened  a  little  :  I  speak 
for  one  of  the  party  only.  The  bath,  the  razor,  the  much 
needed  change  of  those  '  lendings  '  on  which  so  much  of  the 
comfort  of  life  depends,  produced  their  usual  humanizing 
effect ;  and  by  questions  skilfully  timed  and  cautiously 
worded,  I  drew  from  my  toil-worn  spouse  a  tolerably  cir 
cumstantial  account  of  the  journey. 

The  first  day  had  been  entirely  consumed  in  reaching 
Shark  River,  or  rather  its  junction  with  another  considerable 
stream.  Twilight  had  already  shaded  the  woody  path, 
when  the  surveyor,  who  was  acquainted  with  the  whole 
region,  informed  them  that  they  had  yet  some  miles  of 
travel  before  they  could  hope  to  reach  any  kind  of  shelter. 
They  had  been  for  some  hours  following  an  Indian  trail,  and 
some  of  the  city  gentlemen  recollecting,  as  the  day  declined, 
that  they  were  a  little  rheumatic,  began  to  give  vent  to 
their  opinion  that  the  evening  was  going  to  be  particularly 
damp.  One  went  so  far  as  to  hint  that  it  would  have  been 

as  well  if  Mr. (the  sportsman)  had  not  taken  quite 

so  long  to  ascertain  whether  that  white  moving  thing  he  had 
seen  in  the  woods  was  a  deer's  tail  or  not. 

To  this  the  city  Nimrod  had  replied,  that  as  to  its  being 
a  deer's  tail,  there  was  no  possibility  of  question ;  that  if 
the  other  gentlemen  had  been  a  little  more  patient,  they 
might  have  had  venison  for  supper ;  and  this  little  discus 
sion,  growing  more  and  more  animated  as  it  proceeded,  at 
length  occupied  the  attention  of  the  whole  party  so  com 
pletely,  that  they  lost  the  trail  and  found  themselves  at  the 
end  of  what  had  seemed  to  them  an  open  path.  There  was 


44  A    NEW    HOME, 

nothing  for  it,  but  to  turn  the  horses'  heads  right  about,  and 
retrace  the  last  mile  or  more,  while  the  faint  gleam  of  day 
light  was  fast  disappearing. 

The  good  humor  of  the  party  was,  to  say  the  least,  not 
increased  by  this  little  contretemps,  and  the  following  of  a 
trail  by  starlight  is  an  exercise  of  skill  and  patience  not 
likely  to  be  long  agreeable  to  gentlemen  who  have  been  for 
many  years  accustomed  to  pavements  and  gas-lamps.  Not 
a  word  was  said  of  '  camping  out,'  so  manfully  planned  in 
the  morning.  The  loads  of  preparations  for  a  bivouac 
seemed  entirely  forgotten  by  everybody — at  least,  no  one 
thought  proper  to  mention  them ;  and  after  some  few 
attempts  of  the  younger  members  to  be  funny,  the  whole 
caravan  yielded  to  fate,  and  plodded  on  in  gloomy  and 
determined  silence. 

The  glimmer  of  a  distant  light  had  an  electrical  effect. 
The  unlucky  sportsman  was  fortunately  in  the  van,  and  so 
he  had  an  opportunity  of  covering  up  his  offences  by  being 
the  announcer  of  joyous  tidings. 

He  sang  out  cheerily,  '  So  shines  a  good  deed  in  this 
naughty  world !'  and  pricked  on  his  tired  Canadian  into 
something  akin  to  a  trot,  while  the  soberer  part  of  the 
cavalcade  followed  as  fast  as  they  could,  or  as  they  dared. 
Ere  long  they  reached  the  much-desired  shelter,  and  found 
that  their  provident  care  in  regard  to  the  various  items 
requisite  for  food  and  lodging  had  not  been  in  vain. 

The  log  cabin  which  received  the  weary  wayfarers  was 
like  many  others  which  have  served  for  the  first  homes  of 
settlers  in  Michigan.  It  was  logs  and  nothing  else,  the  fire 
made  on  the  ground,  or  on  a  few  loose  stones,  and  a  hole 
in  the  roof  for  the  escape  of  the  smoke.  A  family  of 
tolerably  decent  appearance  inhabited  this  forlorn  dwelling, 


WHO'LL    FOLLOW  t  45 

a  man  and  his  wife  and  two  young  children.  They  seemed 
little  moved  at  the  arrival  of  so  large  a  company,  but 
rendered  what  assistance  they  could  in  providing  for  the 
ponies  and  preparing  the  meal  from  such  materials  as  were 
afforded  by  the  well-stored  hampers  of  the  baggage  pony. 

After  the  conclusion  of  the  meal,  the  blankets  were 
spread  on  the  ground,  and  happy  he  who  could  get  a  bag 
for  a  pillow.  But  the  night's  rest  was  well  earned,  and 
Nature  is  no  niggard  pay-master. 


46  ANEWHOME, 


CHAPTER    IX. 

Night  came ;  and  in  their  lighted  bower,  full  late 
The  joy  of  converse  had  endured  ;  when,  hark  ! 
Abrupt  and  loud,  a  summons  shook  their  gate — 
Upris'n  each  wondering  brow  is  knit  and  arched. 


CAMPBELL. 


If  thou  wert  the  lion,  the  fox  would  beguile  thee ;  if  thou  wert  the  lamb, 
the  fox  would  eat  thee. 

TIMON  OF  ATHENS. 

THE  morning  sun  showed  the  river  and  its  adjunct  bright 
and  beautiful,  though  a  leetle  marshy  at  the  sides.  The 
dead  silence,  the  utter  loneliness,  the  impenetrable  shade, 
which  covered  the  site  of  the  future  city,  might  well  call  to 
mind  the  desolation  which  has  settled  on  Balbec  and  Pal 
myra  ;  the  anticipation  of  future  life  and  splendor  contrast 
ing  no  less  forcibly  with  the  actual  scene  than  would  the 
retrospect  of  departed  grandeur.  The  guide,  who  had 
been  much  employed  in  these  matters,  showed  in  the  course 
of  the  day  six  different  points,  each  of  which,  the  owners 
were  fully  satisfied,  would  one  day  echo  the  busy  tread  of 
thousands,  and  see  reflected  in  the  now  glassy  wave  the 
towers  and  masts  of  a  great  commercial  town.  If  already 
this  infatuation  seems  incredible,  how  shall  we  make  our 
children  believe  its  reality  ? 

The  day  was  to  be  spent  in  exploring,  and  as  it  was 
desirable  to  see  as  much  as  could  be  seen  of  the  river,  so 
important  to  the  future  fortunes  of  the  company,  it  was 
concluded  to  follow  the  bank  as  closely  as  the  marshes 


WHO'LL    FOLLOW?  47 

would  allow,  and  pass  the  night  at  the  house  of  a  French 
trader  near  the  outlet  of  the  stream. 

The  spirits  of  the  party  were  not  very  high  during  the 
ride.  There  was  something  a  little  cooling  in  the  aspect  of 
the  marshes,  and,  although  nobody  liked  to  say  so,  the 
ground  seemed  rather  wet  for  city  building.  However,  the 
trader's  dwelling  looked  very  comfortable  after  the  accom 
modations  of  the  preceding  night,  and  a  few  Indian  huts  at 
no  great  distance  gave  some  relief  to  the  extreme  solitari 
ness  of  the  scene,  which  had  contributed  not  a  little  to  the 
temporary  depression  of  the  party. 

The  Frenchman  was  luckily  at  home,  and  with  his  Indian 
wife  treated  the  travellers  with  much  civility :  the  lady, 
however,  declining  conversation,  or  indeed  notice  of  any 
sort  unless  when  called  on  to  perform  the  part  of  interpre 
ter  between  the  gentlemen  and  some  wretched  looking 
Indians  who  were  hanging  about  the  house.  Several  chil 
dren  with  bright,  gazelle-like  eyes,  were  visible  at  intervals, 
but  exhibited  nothing  of  the  staring  curiosity  which  is  seen 
peeping  from  among  the  sun-bleached  locks  of  the  whiter 
broods  of  the  same  class  of  settlers. 

The  Indians  to  whom  I  have  alluded,  had  come  to  pro 
cure  whiskey  of  the  trader,  and  after  they  had  received 
the  baleful  luxury  which  performs  among  their  fated  race 
the  work  of  fire,  famine,  and  pestilence,  they  departed  with 
rapid  steps.  They  had  scarcely  quitted  the  house  when 
another  was  seen  approaching  the  door  with  that  long  easy 
trot  which  is  habitual  with  the  savage  when  on  a  journey. 
He  was  well  dressed,  in  his  way  ;  his  hat  boasted  a  broad 
band  of  silver  lace  ;  his  tunic,  leggins,  and  moccasins  were 
whole  and  somewhat  ornamented  ;  his  blanket  glorying  in  a 
bright  red  border ;  and  on  his  shoulders,  slung  by  a  broad 


48  A    N  E  \\    H  O  M  B  , 

thong,  was  a  pack  of  furs  of  considerable  value.  He 
seemed  an  old  acquaintance  of  the  family,  and  was  received 
with  some  animation  even  by  the  grave  and  dignified  mis 
tress  of  the  mansion.  The  trader  examined  and  counted 
the  skins,  spoke  to  the  Indian  in  his  own  tongue,  and 
invited  him  to  eat,  which  however  he  declined,  with  a 
significant  gesture  towards  the  huts  before  alluded  to. 

This  evening's  supper  was  made  quite  luxurious  by  the 
preserved  cranberries  and  maple  syrup  furnished  by  the 
settlers  ;  and  our  friends  retired  to  rest  in  much  more 
comfortable  style  than  on  the  preceding  night. 

The  first  nap  was  in  all  its  sweetness,  when  the  whole 
party  were  aroused  by  a  hideous  yelling,  which  to  city  ears 
could  be  no  less  than  an  Indian  war-whoop.  Every  one 
was  on  foot  in  an  instant ;  and  the  confusion  which  ensued 
in  the  attempt  to  dress  in  the  dark  was  most  perplexing 
and  would  have  been  amusing  enough  but  for  certain 
unpleasant  doubts.  The  noise  continued  to  increase  as  it 
approached  the  house,  and  terror  had  reached  its  acme, — 
every  one  catching  at  something  which  could  be  used  as  a 
weapon — when  a  violent  knocking  at  the  door  aroused  the 
trader,  who  slept  in  an  inner  room  or  closet,  and  who  had 
not  been  disturbed  by  the  bustle  within  doors  or  the  yelling 
without.  He  seemed  much  surprised  at  the  confusion 
which  reigned  among  his  guests — assured  them  it  was 
'  nothing  at  all '  but  the  Indians  coming  for  more  whiskey ; 
and  then  admitting  one  of  them,  and  coolly  shutting  the 
door  in  the  face  of  the  rest,  spoke  to  the  desperate  looking 
savage  very  sharply,  evidently  reprobating  in  no  gentle 
terms  the  uproar  which  had  disturbed  the  sleepers. 

The  Indian  made  scarce  any  reply,  but  pointed  with  an 
impatient  gesture  to  the  keg,  repeating —  '  Whiskey !  whis- 


WHO'LLFOLLOW?  49 

key !'  till  the  trader  refilled  it ;  he  then  departed  leaving 
our  party  once  more  to  repose. 

The  next  morning,  much  was  said  of  the  disturbance  of  the 
the  night.  The  Frenchman  seemed  to  look  upon  it  as  a  thing 
of  course,  and  unblushingly  vindicated  his  own  agency  in  the 
matter.  He  said  that  they  would  get  whiskey  from  some 
one — that  an  Indian  could  not  live  without  it,  and  that 
they  would  pay  honestly  for  what  they  got,  although  they 
would  steal  anything  they  could  lay  their  hands  on,  from 
the  farmers  who  lived  within  reach  of  their  settlements. 
Bitter  complaints  he  said  were  often  made  of  corn,  potatoes, 
or  cucumbers,  being  spirited  away  in  the  night,  and  the 
Indians  got  the  blame  at  least,  but  from  him  they  took 
nothing.  His  lady  listened  with  no  pleased  aspect  to  this 
discussion  of  the  foibles  of  her  countrymen,  and  seemed 
quite  willing  to  expedite  the  departure  of  the  guests. 

The  way  to  the  '  Grand  Junction '  seemed  shortened  as 
they  went.  The  day  was  fine  and  the  ponies  in  excellent 
spirits.  The  sportsman  came  very  near  shooting  a  fat 
buck,  and  this  miss  kept  him  in  talk  for  all  day. .  The  old 
gentlemen  were  much  pleased  with  certain  statistical  ac 
counts  furnished  them  by  the  trader,  whom  they  decided 
on  the  whole  to  be  a  very  sensible  fellow :  and  when  they 
reached  once  more  the  chosen  spot,  they  saw  at  a  glance 
how  easily  the  marshes  could  be  drained,  the  channel  of 
the  Shark  deepened,  and  the  whole  converted  into  one 
broad  area,  on  which  to  found  a  second  New  York. 

They  passed  another  night  at  the  log  hut  which  had  first 
received  them,  and  leaving  with  the  poor  couple  who 
inhabited  it  what  cheered  their  lonely  dwelling  for  many  a 
day,  they  returned  to  Detroit. 

Our  friends  considered  the  offers  which  had  been  made 
5 


50  ANEWHOME, 

them  so  very  advantageous  that  the  bargain  for  the  site  at 
the  '  Grand  Junction '  was  concluded  the  very  next  day. 
'  Only  one  hundred  shares  at  three  hundred  dollars  each !' 
the  money  might  be  quadrupled  in  a  month.  And  some  of 
the  knowing  ones,  who  took  shares  '  merely  to  oblige,'  did 
realize  the  golden  vision,  while  the  more  careful,  who  held 

on  to  get  the  top  of  the  market but  why  should  I  tell 

secrets  ? 

Nobody  happened  to  mention  to  these  eastern  buyers 
that  the  whole  had  been  purchased  for  four  hundred 
dollars,  just  a  week  before  they  reached  Detroit. 

These  things  certainly  cost  a  good  deal  of  trouble  after 
all.  They  ought  to  have  paid  well,  unquestionably. 
When  lots  were  to  be  sold,  the  whole  fair  dream  was 
splendidly  emblazoned  on  a  sheet  of  super-royal  size ; 
things  which  only  floated  before  the  mind's  eye  of  the  most 
sanguine,  were  portrayed  with  bewitching  minuteness  for 
the  delectation  of  the  ordinary  observer.  Majestic  steamers 
plied  their  paddles  to  and  fro  upon  the  river ;  ladies  crowd 
ing  their  decks,  and  streamers  floating  on  the  wind.  Sloops 
dotted  the  harbors,  while  noble  ships  were  seen  in  the 
offing.  Mills,  factories,  and  light-houses  —  canals,  rail 
roads  and  bridges,  all  took  their  appropriate  positions. 
Then  came  the  advertisements,  choicely  worded,  and  care 
fully  vague,  never  setting  forth  any  thing  which  might  not 
come  true  at  some  time  or  other ;  yet  leaving  the  buyer 
without  excuse  if  he  chose  to  be  taken  in. 

An  auctioneer  was  now  to  be  procured,  (fqr  lots  usually 
went  rather  heavily  at  private  sale,)  and  this  auctioneer  must 
not  be  such  a  one  as  any  Executive  can  make,  but  a  man  of 
genius,  of  ready  invention,  of  fluent  speech ;  one  who  had 
seen  something  of  the  world,  and,  above  all,  one  who  must 


WHO'LL    FOLLOW?  51 

be  so  thoroughly  acquninted  with  the  property,  and  so 
entirely  convinced  of  its  value,  that  he  could  vouch  on  his 
own  personal  respectability,  for  the  truth  of  every  state 
ment.  He  must  be  able  to  exhibit  certificates  from — no 
matter  whom — Tom-a-Nokes  perhaps — but  *  residing  on  the 
spot ' — and  he  must  find  men  of  straw  to  lead  the  first  bids. 
And  when  all  this  had  been  attended  to,  it  must  have 
required  some  nerve  to  carry  the  matter  through  ;  to  stand 
by,  while  the  poor  artizan,  the  journeyman  mechanic,  the 
stranger  who  had  brought  his  little  all  to  buy  government 
land  to  bring  up  his  young  family  upon,  staked  their  poor 
means  on  strips  of  land  which  were  at  that  moment  a  foot 
under  water.  I  think  many  of  these  gentlemen  earned 
their  money. 

It  is  not  to  be  supposed  that  the  preliminaries  I  have 
enumerated  preceded  every  successful  land  sale.  Many 
thousand  acres  were  transferred  from  hand  to  hand  with  a 
rapidity  which  reminded  one  irresistibly  of  the  old  French 
game  of  'le  petit  bon  homme'  (Anglicised  into  'Robin's 
alive') — while  all  gained  save  him  in  whose  hand  Robin 
died. 

I  have  known  a  piece  of  property  bought  at  five  hundred 
dollars,  sold  at  once  for  twenty  thousand  ;  five  thousand 
counted  down,  and  the  remainder  secured  by  bond  and 
motgage.  Whether  these  after  payments  were  ever  made, 
is  another  question,  and  one  which  I  am  unable  to  answer. 
I  mention  the  transaction  as  one  which  was  performed  in  all 
truth  and  fairness,  savoring  nothing  of  the  '  tricksy  spirit ' 
on  which  I  have  been  somewhat  diffuse. 

I  must  not  omit  to  record  the  friendly  offer  of  one  of  the 
gentlemen  whose  adventures  I  have  recapitulated,  to  take 
'  two  Montacute  lots  at  five  hundred  dollars  each.'  As  this 


52  ANEWHOME, 

was  rather  beyond  the  price  which  the  owner  had  thought 
fit  to  affix  to  his  ordinary  lots,  he  felt  exceedingly  obliged, 
and  somewhat  at  a  loss  to  account  for  the  proposition,  til] 
his  friend  whispered,  '  and  you  shall  have  in  payment  a  lot 
at  New-New-York  at  a  thousand ;  and  we  have  not  sold 
one  at  that,  I  can  assure  you/ 

The  obliged  party  chanced  to  meet  the  agent  for  New- 
New-York  about  a  year  after,  and  inquired  the  fortunes  of 
the  future  emporium,  the  number  of  inhabitants,  &c. 

'  There  's  nobody  there/  said  he,  '  but  those  we  hire  to 
come/ 


W  H  O  'L  L    F  O  L  L  O  W  ?  53 


CHAPTER    X. 

Mrs.  Hardcastlc.  I  wish  we  were  at  home  again.  I  never  met  so  many 
accidents  in  so  short  a  journey.  Drenched  in  the  mud,  overturned  in  the 
ditch,  jolted  to  a  jelly,  and  at  hist  to  lose  our  way. 

SHE  STOOPS  TO  CONQUER. 

AT  length  came  the  joyful  news  that  our  moveables 
had  arrived  in  port ;  and  provision  was  at  once  made 
for  their  transportation  to  the  banks  of  the  Turnip.  But 
many  and  dire  were  the  vexatious  delays,  thrust  by  the 
cruel  Fates  between  us  and  the  accomplishment  of  cm- 
plans  ;  and  it  was  not  till  after  the  lapse  of  several  days 
that  the  most  needful  articles  were  selected  and  bestowed 
in  a  large  wagon  which  was  to  pioneer  the  grand  body. 
In  this  wagon  had  been  reserved  a  seat  for  myself,  since 
I  had  far  too  great  an  affection  for  my  chairs  and  tables, 
to  omit  being  present  at  their  debarkation  at  Montacute, 
in  order  to  insure  their  undisturbed  possession  of  the 
usual  complement  of  legs.  And  there  were  the  children 
to  be  packed  this  time, — little  roley-poley  things,  whom 
it  would  have  been  in  vain  to  have  marked,  '  this  side  up,' 
like  the  rest  of  the  baggage. 

A  convenient  space  must  be  contrived  for  my  plants, 
among  which  were  two  or  three  tall  geraniums, -and  an 
enormous  calla  ethiopica.  Then  D'Orsay  must  be  accom 
modated,  of  course ;  and,  to  crown  all,  a  large  basket 
of  live  fowls ;  for  we  had  been  told  that  there  were  none 
to  be  purchased  in  the  vicinity  of  Montacute.  Besides 
5* 


54  ANEW    HOME, 

these,  there  were  all  our  travelling  trunks ;  and  an  enor 
mous  square  box  crammed  with  articles  which  we  then, 
in  our  greenness,  considered  indispensable.  We  have 
since  learned  better. 

After  this  enumeration,  which  yet  is  only  partial,  it 
will  not  seem  strange  that  the  guide  and  director  of  our 
omnibus  was  to  ride 

'  On  horseback  after  wo.' 

He  acted  as  a  sort  of  adjutant — galloping  forward  to  spy 
out  the  way,  or  provide  accommodations  for  the  troop — 
pacing  close  to  the  wheels  to  modify  our  arrangements, 
to  console  one  of  the  imps  who  had  bumped  his  pate, 
or  to  give  D'Orsay  a  gentle  hint  with  the  riding-whip, 
when  he  made  demonstrations  of  mutiny — and  occasionally 
falling  behind  to  pick  up  a  stray  handkerchief  or  parasol. 
The  roads  near  Detroit  were  inexpressibly  bad.  Many 
were  the  chances  against  our  toppling  load's  preserving 
its  equilibrium.  To  our  inexperience,  the  risks  seemed 
nothino-  less  than  tremendous — but  the  driver  so  often 

o 

reiterated,  '  that  a'n't  nothin','  in  reply  to  our  despairing 
exclamations,  and,  what  was  better,  so  constantly  proved 
his  words  by  passing  the  most  frightful  inequalities  (Michi- 
ganice,  '  sidlings ')  in  safety,  that  we  soon  became  more 
confident,  and  ventured  to  think  of  something  else  besides 
the  ruts  and  mud-holes. 

Our  stopping-places  after  the  first  day  were  of  the  ordi 
nary  new  country  class — the  very  coarsest  accommoda 
tions  by  night  and  by  day,  and  all  at  the  dearest  rate. 
When  every  body  is  buying  land,  and  scarce  anybody 
cultivating  it,  one  must  not  expect  to  find  living  either 
good  or  cheap:  but,  I  confess,  I  was  surprised  at 
the  dearth  of  comforts  which  we  observed  everywhere. 


WHO'LL  FOLLOW?  55 

Neither  milk,  eggs,  nor  vegetables  were  to  be  had,  and 
those  who  could  not  live  on  hard  salt  ham,  stewed  dried 
apples,  and  bread  raised  with  *  salt  risin,'  would  neces 
sarily  run  some  risk  of  starvation. 

One  word  as  to  this  and  similar  modes  of  making  bread, 
so  much  practised  throughout  this  country.  It  is  my 
opinion  that  the  sin  of  bewitching  snow-white  flour  by 
means  of  either  of  those  abominations,  '  salt  risin,'  '  milk 
emptins,'  '  bran  east,'  or  any  of  their  odious  compounds, 
ought  to  be  classed  with  the  turning  of  grain  into  whis 
key,  and  both  made  indictable  offences.  To  those  who 
know  of  no  other  means  of  producing  the  requisite  spon- 
giness  in  bread  than  the  wholesome  hop-yeast  of  the 
brewer,  I  may  be  allowed  to  explain  the  mode  to  which 
I  have  alluded  with  such  hearty  reprobation.  Here 
follows  the  recipe  : — 

To  make  milk  emptins.  Take  quantum  suf.  of  good 
sweet  milk — add  a  teaspoonful  of  salt,  and  some  water,  and 
set  the  mixture  in  a  warm  place  till  it  ferments,  then  mix 
your  bread  with  it ;  and  if  you  are  lucky  enough  to  catch  it 
just  in  the  right  moment  before  the  fermentation  reaches 
the  putrescent  stage,  you  may  make  tolerably  good  rolls, 
but  if  you  are  five  minutes  too  late,  you  will  have  to  open 
your  doors  and  windows  while  your  bread  is  baking. — 
Yerbum  sap. 

'Salt  risin'  is  made  with  water  slightly  salted  and  fer 
mented  like  the  other ;  and  becomes  putrid  rather  sooner ; 
and  '  bran  east '  is  on  the  same  plan.  The  consequences  of 
letting  these  mixtures  stand  too  long  will  become  known  to 
those  whom  it  may  concern,  when  they  shall  travel  through 
the  remoter  parts  of  Michigan ;  so  I  shall  not  dwell  upon 
them  here — but  I  offer  my  counsel  to  such  of  my  friends  as 


56  A    NEW    HOME, 

may  be  removing  westward,  to  bring  with  them  some  form 
of  portable  yeast  (the  old  fashioned  dried  cakes  which 
mothers  and  aunts  can  furnish,  are  as  good  as  any) — and 
also  full  instructions  for  perpetuating  the  same  ;  and  to  plant 
hops  as  soon  as  they  get  a  corner  to  plant  them  in. 

"And  may  they  better  reck  the  rede, 
Than  ever  did  th'  adviser.' 

The  last  two  days  of  our  slow  journey  were  agreeably 
diversified  with  sudden  and  heavy  showers,  and  intervals  of 
overpowering  sunshine.  The  weather  had  all  the  change- 
fulness  of  April,  with  the  torrid  heat  of  July.  Scarcely 
would  we  find  shelter  from  the  rain  which  had  drenched  us 
completely — when  the  sunshine  would  tempt  us  forth  :  and 
by  the  time  all  the  outward  gear  was  dried,  and  matters  in 
readiness  for  a  continuation  of  our  progress,  another  threat 
ening  cloud  would  drive  us  back,  though  it  never  really 
rained  till  we  started. 

We  had  taken  a  newly-opened  and  somewhat  lonely 
route  this  time,  in  deference  to  the  opinion  of  those  who 
ought  to  have  known  better,  that  this  road  from  having  been 
less  travelled,  would  not  be  quite  so  deep  as  the  other.  As 
we  went  farther  into  the  wilderness,  the  difficulties  increased. 
The  road  had  been  but  little  '  worked,'  (the  expression  in 
such  cases,)  and  in  some  parts  was  almost  in  a  state  of 
nature.  Where  it  wound  round  the  edge  of  a*  marsh,  where 
in  future  times  there  will  be  a  bridge  or  drain,  the  wheels 
on  one  side  would  be  on  the  dry  ground,  while  the  others 
were  sinking  in  the  long  wet  grass  of  the  marsh — and  in 
such  places  it  was  impossible  to  discern  inequalities  which 
yet  might  overturn  us  in  an  instant.  In  one  case  of  this 
sort,  we  were  obliged  to  dismount  the  '  live  lumber ' — as 
the  man  who  helped  us  through  phrased  it,  and  let  the 


WHO'LLFOLLOW?  57 

loaded  wagon  pass  on,  while  we  followed  in  an  empty  one 
which  was  fortunately  at  hand — and  it  was,  in  my  eyes, 
little  short  of  a  miracle  that  our  skilful  friend  succeeded  in 
piloting  safely  the  top-heavy  thing  which  seemed  thrown 
completely  off  its  centre  half  a  dozen  times. 

At  length  we  came  to  a  dead  stand.  Our  driver  had 
received  special  cautions  as  to  a  certain  mash  that  '  lay 
between  us  and  our  home  ' — to  '  keep  to  the  right ' — to 
'  follow  the  travel '  to  a  particular  point,  and  then  '  turn  up 
stream  :'  but  whether  the  very  minuteness  and  reiteration 
of  the  directions  had  puzzled  him,  as  is  often  the  case,  or 
whether  his  good  genius  had  for  once  forsaken  him,  I  know 
not.  We  had  passed  the  deep  centre  of  the  miry  slough, 
when,  by  some  unlucky  hair's  breadth  swerving,  in  went  our 
best  horse — our  sorrel — our  '  Prince,' — the  '  off  haus,' 
whose  value  had  been  speered  three  several  times  since  we 
left  Detroit,  with  magnificent  offers  of  a  '  swop  !'  The  noble 
fellow,  unlike  the  tame  beasties  that  are  used  to  such  occur 
rences,  showed  his  good  blood  by  kicking  and  plunging, 
which  only  made  his  case  more  desperate.  A  few  moments 
more  would  have  left  us  with  a  '  single  team/  when  his 
master  succeeded  in  cutting  the  traces  with  his  penknife. 
Once  freed,  Prince  soon  made  his  way  out  of  the  bog-hole 
and  pranced  off,  far  up  the  green  swelling  hill  which  lay 
before  us- — out  of  sight  in  an  instant — and  there  we  sat  in 
the  marsh. 

There  is  but  one  resource  in  such  cases.  You  must  mount 
your  remaining  horse,  if  you  have  one,  and  ride  on  till  you 
find  a  farmer  and  one,  two,  or  three  pairs  of  oxen — and  all 
this  accomplished,  you  may  generally  hope  for  a  release  in 
time. 

The  interval  seemed  a  ketle  tedious,  I  confess.     To  sit 


£8  A    NEW    HOME, 

for  three  mortal  hours  in  an  open  wagon,  under  a  hot  sun, 
in  the  midst  of  a  swamp,  is  not  pleasant.  The  expanse  of 
inky  mud  which  spread  around  us,  Avas  hopeless,  as  to  any 
attempt  at  getting  ashore.  I  crept  cautiously  down  the 
tongue,  and  tried  one  or  two  of  the  tempting  green  tufts, 
which  looked  as  if  they  might  afford  foothold  ;  but  alas  ! 
they  sank  under  the  slightest  pressure.  So  I  was  fain  to 
regain  my  low  chair,  with  its  abundant  cushions,  and  lose 
myself  in  a  book.  The  children  thought  it  fine  fun  for  a 
little  while,  but  then  they  began  to  want  a  drink.  I  never 
knew  children  who  did  not,  when  there  was  no  water  to  be 
had. 

There  ran  through  the  very  midst  of  all  this  black  pud 
ding,  as  clear  a  stream  as  ever  rippled,  and  the  wagon  stood 
almost  in  it ! — but  how  to  get  at  it  ?  The  basket  which 
had  contained,  when  we  left  the  city,  a  store  of  cakes  and 
oranges,  which  the  children  thought  inexhaustible,  held 
now  nothing  but  the  napkins,  which  had  enveloped  those 
departed  joys,  and  those  napkins,  suspended  corner- wise, 
and  soaken  long  and  often  in  the  crystal  water,  served  for 
business  and  pleasure,  till  papa  came  back. 

'  They  're  coming !  They  're  coming  !'  was  the  cry,  and 
with  one  word,  over  went  Miss  Alice,  who  had  been  reach 
ing  as  far  as  she  could,  trying  how  large  a  portion  of  her 
napkin  she  could  let  float  in  the  water. 

Oh,  the  shrieks  and  the  exclamations !  how  hard  papa 
rode,  and  how  hard  mamma  scolded !  but  the  little  witch 
got  no  harm  beyond  a  thorough  wetting,  and  a  few  streaks 
of  black  mud,  and  felt  herself  a  heroine  for  the  rest  of  the 
day. 


WHO'LL    FOLLOW?  59 


CHAPTER    XI. 

Rous'd  at  his  name,  up  rose  the  boozy  sire, 

****** 

In  vain,  in  vain, — the  all-composing  hour 
Resistless  falls;  the  Muse  obeys  the  power. 


POPE. 


THE  night  dews  were  falling  chill  and  heavy  when  we 
crossed  the  last  log  causeway,  and  saw  a  dim  glimmering  in 
the  distance.  The  children  were  getting  horribly  cross  and 
sleepy.  The  unfortunate  anchoring  in  the  black  swamp 
had  deranged  our  plans  by  about  three  hours,  and  when 
we  reached  our  destined  resting-place,  which  was  the  log- 
house  where  I  had  been  so  happy  as  to  make  the  acquaint 
ance  of  Miss  Irene  Ketchum,  and  her  dignified  mamma,  the 
family  had  retired  to  rest,  except  Mr  Ketchum,  who  rested 
without  retiring. 

The  candle,  a  long  twelve  I  should  judge,  was  standing 
on  the  table,  and  wasting  rapidly  under  the  influence  of  a 
very  long  snuff,  which  reclined  upon  its  side.  Upon  the 
same  table,  and  almost  touching  the  tall  iron  candlestick, 
was  a  great  moppy  head  ;  and  this  head  rested  in  heavy 
slum-ber  on  the  brawny  arms  of  the  master  of  the  house. 

'  Ketchum  !  Ketchum !'  echoed  a  shrill  voice  from  within 
the  pinned- up  sheets  in  one  corner,  and  I  might  have 
thought  the  woman  was  setting  the  dog  at  us,  if  I  had  not 
recognized  the  dulcet-treble  of  the  fair  Irene  from  the  other 
bed '  Pa,  pa,  get  up,  can't  you  ?' 

Thus  conjured,  the  master  of  the  mansion  tried  to  over- 


60  ANEWHOME, 

come  the  still  potent  effects  of  his  evening  potations,  enough 
to  understand  what  was  the  matter,  but  in  vain.  He  could 
only  exclaim,  '  What  the  devil's  got  into  the  women  ?'  and 
down  went  the  head  again. 

Mrs.  Ketchum  had,  by  this  time,  exchanged  the  night  for 
the  day  cap,  and  made  herself,  otherwise,  tolerably  pre 
sentable.  She  said  she  had  supposed  we  were  not  coming, 
it  was  so  late  ;  ( it  was  just  half- past  eight,)  and  then  like 
many  other  poor  souls  I  have  known,  tried  hard  to  hide 
her  husband's  real  difficulty. 

*  He  was  so  tired  !'  she  said. 

How  long  the  next  hour  seemed!  A  summer  day  in 
some  company  I  wot  of,  would  not  seem  half  as  tedious. 
It  took  all  papa's  ingenuity,  and  more  than  all  mamma's 
patience  to  amuse  the  poor  children,  tiil  matters  were 
arranged  ;  but  at  length  the  important  matter  of  supper 
being  in  some  sort  concluded,  preparations  were  made  for 
'  retiracy.' 

Up  the  stick  ladder  we  all  paced  '  slowly  and  sadly,' 
Miss  Irene  preceding  us  with  the  remnant  of  the  long  twelve, 
leaving  all  below  in  darkness.  The  aspect  of  our  lodging 
place  was  rather  portentous.  Two  bedsteads,  which  looked 
as  if  they  might,  by  no  very  violent  freak  of  nature,  have 
grown  into  their  present  form,  a  good  deal  of  bark  being 
yet  upon  them,  occupied  the  end  opposite  the  stairs ;  and 
between  them  was  a  window,  without  either  glass  or  shut 
ter — that  is  to  say,  politeness  aside,  a  square  hole  in  the 
house.  Three  beds  spread  upon  the  floor,  two  chests,  and 
a  spinning-wheel,  with  reel  and  swifts,  completed  the  plen 
ishing  of  the  room.  Two  of  the  beds  were  already  ten 
anted,  as  the  vibrations  of  the  floor  might  have  told  us 
without  the  aid  of  ears,  (people  snore  incredibly  after 


WHO'LL    FOLLOW?  61 

ploughing  all  day,)  and  the  remainder  were  at  our  service. 
The  night  air  pouring  in  at  the  aperture  seemed  to  me 
likely  to  bring  death  on  its  dewy  wings,  and  when  I  looked 
up  and  saw  the  stars  shining  through  the  crevices  in  the 
roof,  I  thought  I  might  venture  to  have  the  wider  rent 
closed,  although  I  had  been  sensible  of  some  ill  resulting 
from  the  close  quarters  at  Danforth's.  So  a  quilt,  that 
invaluable  resource  in  the  woods,  was  stuck  up  before  the 
window,  and  the  unhinged  cover  of  one  of  the  chests  was 
used  as  a  lid  for  the  stairway,  for  fear  the  children  might 
fall  down.  Sheets  served  to  partition  off  a  '  tyring  room' 
round  my  bed — an  expedient  frequently  resorted  to — and 
so  dangerous  that  it  is  wonderful  so  few  houses  are  burnt 
down  in  this  country.  And  thus  passed  my  first  night  in 
Montacute. 

I  do  not  remember  experiencing  at  any  time  in  my  life, 
a  sense  of  more  complete  uncomfortableness  than  was  my 
lot,  on  awakening  the  next  morning.  It  seemed  to  arise 
entirely  from  my  anticipations  of  the  awkward  and  tedious 
inconveniences  of  our  temporary  sojourn  at  this  place, 
where  every  thing  was  so  different  from  our  ideas  of  com 
fort,  or  even  decency.  But  I  have  since  been  convinced, 
that  sleeping  in  an  exhausted  atmosphere,  of  which  those 
who  slept  on  the  bedsteads  felt  the  effect  more  sensibly 
than  those  who  lay  on  the  floor,  had  no  small  agency  in 
producing  this  depression  of  spirits,  so  unusual  with  me. 

Be  this  as  it  may,  my  troubles,  when  the  children  were 
to  be  washed  and  dressed,  became  real  and  tangible 
enough ;  for,  however  philosophical  grown  people  may 
sometimes  be  under  disagreeables  consequent  upon  a 
change  of  habits,  children  are  very  epicures,  and  will  put 
up  with  nothing  that  is  unpleasant  to  them,  without  at 
6 


62  A    N  E  W    H  O  M  E , 

least  making  a  noise,  which  I  do  detest  and  dread ;  though 
I  know  mothers  ought  to  'get  used  to  such  things.'  I 
have  heard  that  eels  get  accustomed  to  being  skinned,  but 
I  doubt  the  fact. 

That  morning  was  the  first  and  the  last  time  I  ever 
attempted  to  carry  through  the  ordinary  nursery  routine,  in 
a  log  hut,  without  a  servant,  and  with  a  skillet  for  a  wash 
basin. 

The  little  things  did  get  dressed  after  awhile,  however, 
and  were  safely  escorted  down  the  stick  ladder,  and  it  was 
really  a  pleasure  to  see  them  careering  round  the  house, 
rioting  in  their  freedom,  and  to  hear  now  and  then  a  merry 
laugh,  awakening  the  echoes.  Children  are  the  true  bijou 
terie  of  the  woods  and  wilds.  How  weary  would  my  last 
three  years  have  been,  without  the  cares  and  troubles  they 
have  brought  me ! 

Our  breakfast,  of  undistinguishable  green  tea,  milk-rising 
bread,  and  salt  ham,  did  not  consume  much  time,  and  most 
fortunately  we  here  found  milk  for  the  children,  who  of 
course  made  out  sumptuously.  It  was  the  first  time  since 
we  left  Detroit,  that  we  had  been  able  to  procure  more 
than  a  small  allowance  for  the  tea. 

My  first  care  was  to  inquire  where  I  might  be  able  to 
procure  a  domestic,  for  I  saw  plainly  I  must  not  expect 
any  aid  from  Miss  Irene  or  her  younger  sister,  who  were 
just  such  '  captive-princess '  looking  damsels  as  Miss  Marti- 
neau  mentions  having  seen  at  a  country  inn  somewhere  on 
her  tour. 

'  Well,  I  do  n't  know,'  said  Mrs.  Ketchum,  in  reply  to 
my  questions ;  '  there  was  a  young  lady  here  yesterday 
that  was  saying  she  did  n't  know  but  she  'd  live  out  a 
spell  till  she  'd  bought  her  a  new  dress.' 


W  H  O  '  L  L    F  O  L  L  0  W  ?  63 

'  Oh !  but  I  wish  to  get  a  girl  who  will  remain  with  me ; 
I  should  not  like  to  change  often.' 

O 

Mrs.  Ketchum  smiled  rather  scornfully  at  this,  and  said 
there  were  not  many  girls  about  here  that  cared  to  live 
out  long  at  a  time. 

My  spirits  fell  at  this  view  of  the  matter.  Some  of  my 
dear  theorizing  friends  in  the  civilized  world  had  dissuaded 
me  most  earnestly  from  bringing  a  maid  with  me. 

'She  would  always  be  discontented  and  anxious  to 
return;  and  you'll  find  plenty  of  good  farmers'  daughters 
ready  to  live  witli  you  for  the  sake  of  earning  a'  little 
money.' 

Good  souls !  how  little  did  they  know  of  Michigan ! 
I  have  since  that  day  seen  the  interior  of  many  a  wretched 
dwelling,  with  almost  literally  nothing  in  it  but  a  bed,  a 
chest,  and  a  table  ;  children  ragged  to  the  last  degree,  and 
potatoes  the  only  fare ;  but  never  yet  saw  I  one  where  the 
daughter  was  willing  to  own  herself  obliged  to  live  out  at 
service.  She  would  '  hire  out'  long  enough  to  buy  some 
article  of  dress  perhaps,  or  '  because  our  folks  have  been 
sick,  and  want  a  little  money  to  pay  the  doctor,'  or  for 
some  such  special  reason ;  but  never  as  a  regular  calling, 
or  with  an  acknowledgment  of  inferior  station. 

This  state  of  things  appalled  me  at  first;  but  I  have 
learned  a  better  philosophy  since.  I  find  no  difficulty 
now  in  getting  such  aid  as  I  require,  and  but  little  in 
retaining  it  as  long  as  I  wish,  though  there  is  always  a 
desire  of  making  an  occasional  display  of  independence. 
Since  living  with  one  for  wages  is  considered  by  common 
consent  a  favor,  I  take  it  as  a  favor ;  and,  this  point  once 
conceded,  all  goes  well.  Perhaps  I  have  been  peculiarly 
fortunate ;  but  certainly  with  one  or  two  exceptions,  I  have 


64  A    NEW    HOME, 

little  or  nothing  to  complain  of  on  this  essential  point 
of  domestic  comfort. 

To  be  sure,  I  had  one  damsel  who  crammed  herself 
almost  to  suffocation  with  sweetmeats  and  other  things 
which  she  esteemed  very  nice ;  and  ate  up  her  own  pies 
and  cake,  to  the  exclusion  of  those  for  whom  they  were 
intended ;  who  would  put  her  head  in  at  a  door,  with — 
'M-iss  Clavers,  did  you  holler!  I  thought  I  heered  a  yell.' 

And  another  who  was  highly  offended,  because  room 
was  not  made  for  her  at  table  with  guests  from  the  city, 
and  that  her  company  was  not  requested  for  tea  visits. 
And  this  latter  high-born  damsel  sent  in  from  the  kitchen 
a  circumstantial  account  in  writing,  of  the  instances 
wherein  she  considered  herself  aggrieved  ;  well  written  it 
was,  too,  and  expressed  with  much  naivete,  and  abundant 
respect.  I  answered  it  in  the  way  which  '  turneth  away 
wrath.'  Yet  it  was  not  long  before  this  fiery  spirit  was 
aroused  again,  and  I  was  forced  to  part  with  my  country 
belle.  But  these  instances  are  not  very  tremendous  even 
to  the  city  habits  I  brought  with  me ;  and  I  cannot  say  I 
regret  having  been  obliged  to  relinquish  what  was,  after  all, 
rather  a  silly  sort  of  pride.  But  bless  me  !  how  I  get  before 
my  story !  I  viewed  the  matter  very  differently  when  I 
was  at  Ketchum's.  My  philosophy  was  of  slow  growth. 

On  reflection,  it  was  thought  best  not  to  add  another 
sleeper  to  the  loft,  and  I  concluded  to  wait  on  myself  and 
the  children  while  we  remained  at  Ketchum's,  which  we 
hoped  would  be  but  for  a  day  or  two.  I  can  only  say,  I 
contrived  to  simplify  the  matter  very  much,  when  I  had 
no  one  to  depend  on  but  myself.  The  children  had  dirty 
faces,  and  aprons  which  would  have  effected  their  total 
exclusion  from  genteel  society,  more  than  half  the  time ; 


W  H  O  '  L  L    F  O  L  L  O  W  ?  65 

and  I  was  happy  to  encourage  the  closest  intimacy  be 
tween  them  and  the  calves  and  chickens,  in  order  to  gain 
some  peace  within  doors.  Mrs.  Ketch  urn  certainly  had 
her  own  troubles  during  our  sojourn  under  her  leaky  roof; 
for  the  two  races  commingled  not  without  loud  and  long 
effervescence,  threatening  at  times  nothing  short  of  a  Kil 
kenny-cat  battle,  ending  in  mutual  extermination. 

My  office,  on  these  occasions,  was  an  humble  imitation 
of  the  plan  of  the  celestials  in  ancient  times  ;  to  snatch  away 
the  combatant  in  whom  I  was  most  interested,  and  then  to 
secrete  him  for  a  while,  using  as  a  desert  island  one  of  the 
beds  in  the  loft,  where  the  unfortunate  had  to  dree  a  weary 
penance,  and  generally  come  down  quite  tame. 


<3* 


66  A    NEW    HOME. 


CHAPTER   XII. 


The  ripeness  or  unripeness  of  the  occasion  must  ever  be  well  weighed :  and 
generally,  it  is  good  to  commit  the  beginnings  of  all  great  actions  to  Argus 
with  his  hundred  eyes,  and  the  ends  to  Briareus,  with  his  hundred  hands. 

BACON. 


Trust  not  yourself;  but  your  defects  to  know. 
Make  use  of  every  friend. 


POPE. 


THE  log-house,  which  was  to  be  our  temporary  home, 
was  tenanted  at  this  time ;  and  we  were  obliged  to  wait 
while  the  incumbent  could  build  a  framed  one ;  the  mate 
rials  for  which  had  been  growing  in  the  woods  not  long 
before ;  I  was  told  it  would  take  but  a  short  time,  as  it  was 
already  framed. 

What  was  my  surprise,  on  walking  that  way  to  ascertain 
the  progress  of  things,  to  find  the  materials  still  scattered 
on  the  ground,  and  the  place  quite  solitary. 

*  Did  not  Mr.  Ketchum  say  Green's  house  was  framed  ?' 
said  I  to  the  dame  du  pala.is,  on  my  return  ;  '  the  timbers 
are  all  lying  on  the  ground,  and  nobody  at  work.' 

'  Why,  la !  so  they  be  all  framed,  and  Green's  gone 
to for  the  sash.  They  '11  be  ready  to  raise  to 
morrow/ 

It  took  me  some  time  to  understand  that  framing  was 
nothing  more  than  cutting  the  tenons  and  mortices  ready 
for  putting  the  timbers  together,  and  that  these  must  be 
raised  before  there  could  be  a  frame.  And  that  'sash/ 


WHO'LL    FOLLOW?  67 

which  I  in  my  ignorance  supposed  could  be  but  for  one 
window,  was  a  generic  term. 

The  'raising'  took  place  the  following  afternoon,  and  was 
quite  an  amusing  scene  to  us  cockneys,  until  one  man's 
thumb  was  frightfully  mashed,  and  another  had  a  severe 
blow  upon  the  head.  A  jug  of  whiskey  was  pointed  out 
by  those  who  understood  the  matter,  as  the  true  cause  of 
these  disasters,  although  the  Fates  got  the  blame. 

'  Jem  White  always  has  such  bad  luck !'  said  Mr. 
Ketchum,  on  his  return  from  the  raising,  '  and  word  spake 
never  more,'  for  that  night  at  least;  for  he  disappeared 
behind  the  mysterious  curtain,  and  soon  snored  most 
sonorously. 

The  many  raisings  which  have  been  accomplished  at 
Montacute,  without  that  ruinous  ally,  strong  drink,  since 
the  days  of  which  I  speak,  have  been  free  from  accidents 
of  any  sort ;  Jem  White  having  carried  his  '  bad  luck  '  to  a 
distant  country,  and  left  his  wife  and  children  to  be  taken 
care  of  by  the  public. 

Our  cottage  bore  about  the  same  proportion  to  the  arti 
cles  we  had  expected  to  put  into  it  that  the  '  lytell  hole  ' 
did  to  the  fiend  whom  Yirgilius  cajoled  into  its  narrow  com 
pass  ;  and  the  more  we  reflected,  the  more  certain  we 
became  that  without  the  magic  powers  of  necromancy,  one 
half  of  our  moveables  at  least  must  remain  in  the  open  air. 
To  avoid  such  necessity,  Mr.  Clavers  was  obliged  to  return 
to  Detroit  and  provide  storage  for  sundry  unwieldly  boxes 
which  could  by  no  art  of  ours  be  conjured  into  our 
cot. 

WThile  he  was  absent,  Green  had  enclosed  his  new  house ; 
that  is  to  say,  put  on  the  roof  and  the  siding,  and  laid  one 
floor,  and  forthwith  he  removed  thither  without  door, 


68  ANEWHOME, 

window,  or  chimney,  a  course  by  no  means  unusual  in 
Michigan. 

As  I  was  by  this  time,  truth  to  speak,  very  nearly  starv 
ed,  I  was  anxious  to  go  as  soon  as  possible  to  a  place 
where  I  could  feel  a  little  more  at  home  ;  and  so  com 
pletely  had  my  nine  days  at  Ketchum's  brought  down  my 
ideas,  that  I  anticipated  real  satisfaction  in  a  removal  to  this 
hut  in  the  wilderness.  I  would  not  wait  for  Mr.  Clavers' 
return ;  but  insisted  on  setting  up  for  myself  at  once. 

But  I  should  in  vain  attempt  to  convey  to  those  who 
know  nothing  of  the  woods,  any  idea  of  the  difficulties  in 
my  way.  If  one's  courage  did  not  increase,  and  one's 
invention  brighten  under  the  stimulus  of  such  occasions,  I 
should  have  given  up  at  the  outset,  as  I  have  often  done 
with  far  less  cause. 

It  was  no  easy  matter  to  get  a  '  lady '  to  clean  the  place, 
and  ne'er  had  place  more  need  of  the  tutelary  aid  of  the 
goddess  of  scrubbing  brushes.  Then  this  lady  must  be 
provided  with  the  necessary  utensils,  and  here  arose  dilem 
ma  upon  dilemma.  Mrs.  Ketchum  rendered  what  aid  she 
could,  but  there  was  little  superfluous  in  her  house. 

And  then,  such  racing  and  chasing,  such  messages  and 
requisitions  !  Mrs.  Jennings  '  could  n't  do  nothin  '  without 
a  mop,  and  I  had  not  thought  of  such  a  thing,  and  was 
obliged  to  sacrifice  on  the  spot  sundry  nice  towels,  a 
necessity  which  made  all  the  house-keeping  blood  in  my 
veins  tingle. 

After  one  day's  experience  of  this  sort,  I  decided  to  go 
myself  to  the  scene  of  action,  so  as  to  be  at  hand  for  these 
trying  occasions ;  and  I  induced  Mr.  Ketchum  to  procure 
a  wagon  and  carry  to  our  new  home  the  various  articles 
which  we  had  piled  in  a  hovel  on  his  premises. 


'Belioid  me  then  seated  on   a  box  in  the   midat  of  an  anomalous 
;on>jregation  cf  household  goods."  P-  69. 


WHO'LL    FOLLOW?  69 

Behold  me  then  seated  on  a  box,  in  the  midst  of  as 
anomalous  a  congregation  of  household  goods  as  ever  met 
under  one  roof  in  the  backwoods,  engaged  in  the  seemingly 
hopeless  task  of  calling  order  out  of  chaos,  attempting 
occasionally  to  throw  out  a  hint  for  the  instruction  of  Mrs. 
Jennings,  who  uniformly  replied  by  requesting  me  not  to 
fret,  as  she  knew  what  she  was  about. 

Mr.  Jennings,  with  the  aid  of  his  sons,  undertook  the 
release  of  the  pent-up  myriads  of  articles  which  crammed 
the  boxes,  many  of  which  though  ranked  when  they  were 
put  in  as  absolutely  essential,  seemed  ridiculously  super 
fluous  when  they  came  out.  The  many  observations  made 
by  the  spectators  as  each  new  wonder  made  its  appearance, 
though  at  first  rather  amusing,  became  after  a  while  quite 
vexatious ;  for  the  truth  began  to  dawn  upon  me  that  the 
common  sense  was  all  on  their  side. 

'  What  on  airth  's  them  gimcracks  for  ?'  said  my  lady,  as 
a  nest  of  delicate  japanned  tables  were  set  out  upon  the 
uneven  floor. 

I  tried  to  explain  to  her  the  various  convenient  uses  to 
which  they  were  applicable ;  but  she  looked  very  scorn 
fully  after  all  and  said,  'I  guess  they'll  do  better  for 
kindlins  than  any  thing  else,  here/  And  I  began  to  cast  a 
disrespectful  glance  upon  them  myself,  and  forthwith 
ordered  them  up  stairs,  and  wondering  in  my  own  mind 
how  I  could  have  thought  a  log  house  would  afford  space 
for  such  superfluities. 

All  this  time  there  was  a  blazing  fire  in  the  chimney  to 
accommodate  Mrs.  Jennings  in  her  operations,  and  while 
the  doors  and  windows  were  open  we  were  not  sensible  of 
much  discomfort  from  it.  Supper  was  prepared  and  eaten 
— beds  spread  on  the  floor,  and  the  children  stowed  away. 


/70  A    NEW    HOME, 

Mrs.  Jennings  and  our  other  '  helps '  had  departed,  and  I 
prepared  to  rest  from  my  unutterable  weariness,  when  I 
began  to  be  sensible  of  the  suffocating  heat  of  the  place. 
I  tried  to  think  it  would  grow  cooler  in  a  little  while,  but  it 
was  absolutely  insufferable  to  the  children  as  well  as  my 
self,  and  I  was  fain  to  set  both  doors  open,  and  in  this 
exposed  situation  passed  the  first  night  in  my  western 
home,  alone  with  my  children  and  far  from  any  neighbor. 

If  I  could  live  a  century,  I  think  that  night  will  never 
fade  from  my  memory.  Excessive  fatigue  made  it  impossi 
ble  to  avoid  falling  asleep,  yet  the  fear  of  being  devoured 
by  wild  beasts,  or  poisoned  by  rattlesnakes,  caused  me  to 
start  up  after  every  nap  with  sensations  of  horror  and 
alarm,  which  could  hardly  have  been  increased  by  the 
actual  occurrence  of  all  I  dreaded.  Many  wretched  hours 
passed  in  this  manner.  At  length  sleep  fairly  overcame 
fear,  and  we  were  awakened  only  by  a  wild  storm  of  wind 
and  rain  which  drove  in  upon  us  and  completely  wetted 
every  thing  within  reach. 

A  doleful  morning  was  this — no  fire  on  the  hearth — 
streams  of  water  on  the  floor — and  three  hungry  children 
to  get  breakfast  for.  I  tried  to  kindle  a  blaze  with 
matches,  but  alas,  even  the  straw  from  the  packing-boxes 
was  soaked  with  the  cruel  rain ;  and  I  was  distributing 
bread  to  the  hungry,  hopeless  of  any  thing  more,  when  Mr. 
Jennings  made  his  appearance. 

'  I  was  thinking  you  'd  begin  to  be  sick  o'  your  bargain 
by  this  time,'  said  the  good  man,  '  and  so  I  thought  I  'd 
come  and  help  you  a  spell.  I  reckon  you  'd  ha'  done 
better  to  have  waited  till  the  old  man  got  back.' 

'  What  old  man  ?'  asked  I,  in  perfect  astonishment. 

*  Why,  your  old  man  to  be  sure/  said  he  laughing.     I 


WHO'LL    FOLLOW?  7! 

had  yet  to  learn  that  in  Michigan,  as  soon  as  a  man  marries 
he  becomes  '  the  old  man,'  though  he  may  yet  be  in  his 
minority.  Not  long  since  I  gave  a  young  bride  the  how 
d'  do  in  passing,  and  the  reply  was,  '  I  'm  pretty  well,  but 
my  old  man  's  sick  a-bed.' 

But  to  return.  Mr,  Jennings  kindled  a  fire  which  I  took 
care  should  be  a  moderate  one ;  and  I  managed  to  make  a 
cup  of  tea  to  dip  our  bread  in,  and  then  proceeded  to  find 
places  for  the  various  articles  which  strewed  the  floor. 
Some  auger-holes  bored  in  the  logs  received  large  and  long 
pegs,  and  these  served  to  support  boards  which  were  made  to 
answer  the  purpose  of  shelves.  It  was  soon  found  that  the 
multiplicity  of  articles  which  were  to  be  accommodated  on 
these  shelves  would  fill  them  a  dozen  times. 

'  Now  to  my  thinkin/  said  my  good  genius,  Mr.  Jennings, 
'  that  'ere  soup  t'reen,  as  you  call  it,  and  them  little  ones, 
and  these  here  great  glass-dishes,  and  all  sick,  might  jist  as 
well  go  up  chamber  for  all  the  good  they  '11  ever  do  you 
here.' 

This  could  not  be  gainsaid ;  and  the  good  man  proceeded 
to  exalt  them  to  another  set  of  extempore  shelves  in  the 
upper  story ;  and  so  many  articles  were  included  in  the 
same  category,  that  I  began  to  congratulate  myself  on  the 
increase  of  clear  space  below,  and  to  fancy  we  should  soon 
begin  to  look  very  comfortable. 

My  ideas  of  comfort  were  by  this  time  narrowed  down 
to  a  well-swept  room  with  a  bed  in  one  corner,  and  cooking 
apparatus  in  another — and  this  in  some  fourteen  days  from 
the  city !  I  can  scarcely,  myself,  credit  the  reality  of  the 
change. 

It  was  not  till  I  had  occasion  to  mount  the  ladder  that  I 
realized  that  all  I  had  gamed  on  the  confusion  below  was 


72  ANEWHOME, 

most  hopelessly  added  to  the  confusion  above,  and  I  came 
down  with  such  a  sad  and  thoughtful  brow,  that  my  good 
aid-de-camp  perceived  my  perplexity. 

*  Had  n't  I  better  go  and  try  to  get  some  of  the  neigh 
bors'  gals  to  come  and  help  you  for  a  few  days  ?'  said  he. 

I  was  delighted  with  the  offer,  and  gave  him  carte- 
blanche  as  to  terms,  which  I  afterwards  found  was  a 
mistake,  for  where  sharp  bargains  are  the  grand  aim'  of 
every  body,  those  who  express  any  thing  like  indifference 
on  the  subject,  are  set  down  at  once  as  having  more 
money  than  they  know  what  to  do  with  ;  and  as  this  was 
far  from  being  my  case,  I  found  reason  to  regret  havjng 
given  room  for  the  conclusion. 

The  damsel  made  her  appearance  before  a  great  while— 
a  neat  looking  girl  with  '  scarlet  hair  and  belt  to  match ;' 
and  she  immediately  set  about  '  reconciling '  as  she  called 
it,  with  a  good  degree  of  energy  and  ingenuity.  I  was 
forced  to  confess  that  she  knew  much  better  than  I  how  to 
make  a  log  house  comfortable. 

She  began  by  turning  out  of  doors  the  tall  cupboard, 
which  had  puzzled  me  all  the  morning,  observing  very 
justly,  '  Where  there  ain't  no  room  for  a  thing,  why,  there 
ain't ;'  and  this  decision  cut  the  Gordian  knot  of  all  my 
plans  and  failures  in  the  disposal  of  the  ungainly  con 
venience.  It  did  yeoman's  service  long  afterwards  as  a 
corn-crib. 

When  the  bedsteads  were  to  be  put  up,  the  key  was 
among  the  missing ;  and  after  we  had  sent  far  and  wide 
and  borrowed  a  key,  or  the  substitute  for  one,  no  screws 
could  be  found,  and  we  were  reduced  to  the  dire  necessity 
of  trying  to  keep  the  refractory  posts  in  their  places  by 
means  of  ropes.  Then  there  were  candles,  but  no  candle- 


WHO'LL    FOLLOW?  Y3 

sticks.  This  seemed  at  first  rather  inconvenient,  but  when 
Mr.  Jennings  had  furnished  blocks  of  wood  with  auger- 
holes  bored  in  them  for  sockets,  we  could  do  nothing  but 
praise  the  ingenuity  of  the  substitute. 

My  rosy-haired  Phillida,  who  rejoiced  in  the  euphonious 
appellation  of  Angeline,  made  herself  entirely  at  home, 
looking  into  my  trunks,  &c.,  and  asking  the  price  of  various 
parts  of  my  dress.  She  wondered  why  I  had  not  my  hair 
cut  off,  and  said  she  reckoned  I  would  before  long,  as  it 
was  all  the  fashion  about  there. 

'  When  d'  ye  expect  Him  ?'  said  the  damsel,  with  an  air 
of  sisterly  sympathy,  and  ere  I  could  reply  becomingly,  a 
shout  of  '  tiny  joy  '  told  me  that  Papa  had  come. 

I  did  not  cry  for  sorrow  this  time. 


74  ANEWHOME, 


CHAPTER   XIII. 

Dans  toutes  les  professions  et  dans  tons  les  arts,  chacun  se  fait  une  mine  et  un 
ext£rieur  qu'il  met  en  la  place  de  la  chose  dont  il  vent  avoir  la  merite ;  de  sorto 
que  tout  le  monde  n'est  compost  que  de  mines ;  et  c'est  inutilement  que  nous 
travaillons  a  y  trouver  rien  de  reel. 

ROCHEFOUCALT. 

\ye  see  the  reign  or  tyranny  of  custom,  what  it  is.  The  Indians  lay  themselves 
quietly  upon  a  stack  of  wood,  and  so  sacrifice  themselves  by  fire.  ***** 

Since  custom  is  the  principal  magistrate  of  man's  life,  let  men  by  all  means 
endeavor  to  obtain  good  customs. 


DIFFICULTIES  began  to  melt  away  like  frosty  rime  after 
this.  Some  were  removed,  but  to  many  we  became 
habituated  in  a  far  shorter  time  than  I  could  have  imagined 
possible.  A  carpenter  constructed  a  narrow  flight  of 
board-steps  which  really  seemed  magnificent  after  the 
stick-ladder.  The  screws  came  before  the  bedsteads  were 
quite  spoiled,  and  the  arrival  Df  my  bureau — the  unpacking 
of  the  box  among  whose  multifarious  contents  appeared  the 
coffee-mill,  the  smoothing-irons,  the  snuffers,  gave  more 
real  delight  than  that  of  any  case  of  splendid  Parisian 
millinery  that  ever  drew  together  a  bevy  of  belles  at 
Mrs.  —  — 's  show-rooms.  I  never  before  knew  the  value 
of  a  portable  desk,  or  realized  that  a  bottle  of  ink  might  be 
reckoned  among  one's  treasures. 

Our  preparations  for  residence  were  on  a  very  limited 
scale,  for  we  had  no  idea  of  inhabiting  the  loggery  more 
than  six  weeks  or  two  months  at  farthest.  Our  new  dwell- 


WHO'LL    FOLLOW?  .75 

ing  was  to  be  put  up  immediately,  and  our  arrangements 
were  to  be  only  temporary  So  easily  are  people 
deluded  ! 

The  Montacute  mill  was  now  in  progress,  and  had  grown 
(on  paper)  in  a  short  time  from  a  story  and  a  half  to  four 
stories  ;  its  capabilities  of  all  sorts  being  proportionably 
increased.  The  tavern  was  equally  fortunate,  for  Mr. 
Hazard  had  undertaken  its  erection  entirely  on  his  own 
account,  as  a  matter  of  speculation,  feeling,  he  said,  quite 
certain  of  selling  it  for  double  its  cost  whenever  he  should 
wish.  The  plan  of  the  public  house  was  the  production  of 
his  teeming  brain,  and  exhibited  congenial  intricacies  ;  while 
the  windows  resembled  his  own  eyes  in  being  placed  too 
near  together,  and  looking  all  manner  of  ways.  Several 
smaller  buildings  were  also  in  progress,  and  for  all  these 
workmen  at  a  high  rate  of  wages  were  to  be  collected  and 
provided  for. 

I  could  not  but  marvel  how  so  many  carpenters  had 
happened  to  '  locate  '  within  a  few  miles  of  each  other  in 
this  favored  spot ;  but  I  have  since  learned  that  a  plane, 
a  chisel,  and  two  dollars  a  day  make  a  carpenter  in 
Michigan. 

Millwrights  too  are  remarkably  abundant ;  but  I  have 
never  been  able  to  discover  any  essential  difference  between 
them  and  the  carpenters,  except  that  they  receive  three 
dollars  per  diem,  which,  no  doubt,  creates  a  distinction  in 
time. 

Our  millwright  was  a  little  round-headed  fellow  with  a 
button  nose,  a  very  Adonis,  in  his  own  eyes,  and  most  aptly 
named  Puffer,  since  never  did  a  more  consequential  digni 
tary  condescend  to  follow  a  base  mechanical  calling.  His 
statements,  when  he  condescended  to  make  any,  were 


76  A    NEW    HOME, 

always  given  with  a  most  magisterial  air ;  and  no  sugges 
tion,  however  skilfully  insinuated  or  gently  offered,  was  ever 
received  without  an  air  of  insulted  dignity,  and  a  reiteration 
of  his  own  conviction  that  it  was  probable  he  understood 
his  business. 

It  is  to  be  ascribed  to  this  gentleman's  care  and  accuracy 
that  Mr.  Clavers  has  since  had  the  satisfaction  of  appearing 
as  defendant  in  several  suits  at  law,  brought  by  those  of  his 
neighbors  whose  property  had  been  doubled  in  value  by  the 
erection  of  the  mill,  and  who  therefore  thought  they  might 
as  well  see  what  else  they  could  get,  to  recover  the  value 
of  sundry  acres  of  wet  marsh  made  wetter  by  the  flowing 
back  of  the  pond,  while  Mr.  Puffer's  calculations  and  levels 
prove  most  satisfactory  (on  paper)  that  the  pond  had  no 
business  to  flow  back  so  far,  and  that  therefore  malice  itself 
could  ascribe  no  fault  to  his  management. 

But  to  return.  Our  own  dwelling  was  to  be  built  at  the 
same  time  with  all  those  I  have  mentioned ;  and  materials 
for  the  whole  were  to  be  brought  by  land  carriage  from  two 
to  thirty  miles.  To  my  inexperienced  brain,  these  under 
takings  seemed  nothing  less  than  gigantic.  I  used  to 
dream  of  the  pyramids  of  Egypt,  and  the  great  wall  of 
China,  and  often  thought,  during  my  waking  hours,  of  the 
*  tower,  on  Shinar's  plain,'  and  employed  myself  in  con 
jectural  comparisons  between  the  confusion  which  pun 
ished  the  projectors  of  that  edifice,  and  the  difficulties  which 
beset  the  builders  of  Montacute. 

'  No  brick  come  yet,  sir  J  Dibble  could  n't  get  no  white 

wood  lumber  at  I ,  (thirty  miles  off,)  so  he  stopt  and 

got  what  lime  there  was  at  Jones's  ;  but  they  had  n't  only 
four  bushels,  and  they  would  n't  burn  again  till  week  after 
next ;  and  that  'ere  sash  that  came  from is  all  of 


WHO'LL     FOLLOW?  7? 

three  inches  too  large  for  the  window  frames ;  and  them 
doors  was  made  of  such  green  stuff  that  they  won't  go 
together  no  how.' 

'  Well,  you  can  go  on  with  the  roof  surely  !' 

'  Why,  so  we  could  ;  but  you  know,  sir,  oak-shingle 
would  n't  answer  for  the  mill,  and  there  's  no  pine-shingle 
short  of  Detroit.' 

'  Can't  the  dwelling  house  be  raised  to-day  then  ?' 

'  Why,  we  calc'lated  to  raise  to-day,  sir ;  but  that  fellow 
never  came  to  dig  the  cellar.' 

'  Go  on  with  the  blacksmith's  shop,  then,  since  nothing 
else  can  be  done.' 

'  Yes,  sir,  certainly.  Shall  we  take  that  best  white  wood 
siding  ?  for  you  knoAv  the  oak  siding  never  came  from 
Tacker's  mill.' 

'  Send  Thomson  for  it,  then.' 

*  Well,  Thomson's  best  horse  is  so  lame  that  he  can't  use 
him  to-day,  and  the  other  is  a-drawin'  timber  for  the  dam.' 

'  Let  John  go  with  my  horses.' 

'  John's  wife's  sick,  and  he 's  got  your  horses  and  gone 
for  the  doctor.' 

But  if  I  should  fill  pages  with  these  delays  and  disap 
pointments,  I  should  still  fail  to  give  any  idea  of  the  real 
vexations  of  an  attempt  to  build  on  any  but  the  smallest 
scale  in  a  new  country.  You  discover  a  thousand  requi 
sites  that  you  had  never  thought  of,  and  it  is  well  if  you  do 
not  come  to  the  angry  conclusion  that  every  body  is  in 
league  against  you  and  your  plans.  Perhaps  the  very  next 
day  after  you  have,  by  extra  personal  exertion,  an  offer  of 
extra  price,  or  a  bonus  in  some  other  form,  surmounted 
some  prodigious  obstacle,  you  walk  down  to  survey  opera 
tions  with  a  comfortable  feeling  of  self-gratulation,  and  find 
7* 


78  ANEWHOMB, 

yourself  in  complete  solitude,  every  soul  having  gone  off  to 
election  or  town  meeting.  No  matter  at  what  distance 
these  important  affairs  are  transacted,  so  fair  an  excuse  for 
a  ploy  can  never  pass  unimproved  ;  and  the  virtuous  indig 
nation  which  is  called  forth  by  any  attempt  at  dissuading 
one  of  the  sovereigns  from  exercising  '  the  noblest  privilege 
of  a  freeman,'  to  forward  your  business  and  his  own,  is 
most  amusingly  provoking. 

I  once  ventured  to  say,  in  my  feminine  capacity  merely, 
and  by'  way  of  experiment,  to  a  man  whose  family  I  knew 
to  be  suffering  for  want  of  the  ordinary  comforts  : — 

*  I  should  suppose  it  must  be  a  great  sacrifice  for  you, 
Mr.  Fenwick,  to  spend  two  days  in  going  to  election.' 

The  reply  was  given  with  the  air  of  Forrest's  William 
Tell,  and  in  a  tone  which  would  have  rejoiced  Miss  Mar- 
tineau's  heart,  '  Yes,  to  be  sure  ;  but  ought  not  a  man  to 
do  his  duty  to  his  country?' 

This  was  unanswerable,  of  course.  I  hope  it  consoled 
poor  Mrs.  Fenwick,  whose  tattered  gown  would  have  been 
handsomely  renewed  by  those  two  days'  wages. 

As  may  be  conjectured  from  the  foregoing  slight  sketch 
of  our  various  thwartings  and  hindrances,  the  neat  framed 
house  which  had  been  pictured  on  my  mind's  eye  so 
minutely,  and  which  I  coveted  with  such  enthusiasm,  was 
not  built  in  a  month,  nor  in  two,  nor  yet  in  three ; — but  I 
anticipate  again. 

The  circumstance  of  living  all  summer,  in  the  .same  apart 
ment  with  a  cooking  fire,  I  had  never  happened  to  see 
alluded  to  in  any  of  the  elegant  sketches  of  western  life 
which  had  fallen  under  my  notice.  It  was  not  until  I  actu 
ally  became  the  inmate  of  a  log  dwelling  in  the  wilds,  that 
1  realized  fully  what  '  living  all  in  one  room  '  meant.  The 


WHO'LL    FOLLOW  ?  79 

sleeping  apparatus  for  the  children  and  the  sociable  Ange- 
line,  was  in  the  loft :  but  my  own  bed,  with  its  cunning  fence 
of  curtains  ;  my  bureau,  with  its  '  Alps  on  Alps  '  of  boxes 
and  books ;  my  entire  cooking  array ;  my  centre-table, 
which  bore,  sad  change  !  the  remains  of  to-day's  dinner, 
and  the  preparations  for  to-morrow's,  all  covered  mysteri 
ously  under  a  large  cloth,  the  only  refuge  from  the  mice : 
these  and  ten  thousand  other  things,  which  a  summer's  day 
would  not  suffice  me  to  enumerate,  cumbered  this  one  sin 
gle  apartment ;  and  to  crown  the  whole  was  the  inextin 
guishable  fire,  which  I  had  entirely  forgotten  when  I 
magnanimously  preferred  living  in  a  log-house,  to  remaining 
in  Detroit  till  a  house  could  be  erected.  I  had,  besides  the 
works  to  which  I  have  alluded,  dwelt  with  delight  on 
Chateaubriand's  Atala,  where  no  such  vulgar  inconvenience 
is  once  hinted  at ;  and  my  floating  visions  of  a  home  in  the 
woods  were  full  of  important  omissions,  and  always  in  a 
Floridian  clime,  where  fruits  serve  for  vivers. 

The  inexorable  dinner  hour,  which  is  passed  sub  silentio 
in  imaginary  forests,  always  recurs,  in  real  woods,  with 
distressing  iteration,  once  in  twenty-four  hours,  as  I 
found  to  my  cost.  And  the  provoking  people  for  whom  I 
had  undertaken  to  provide,  seemed  to  me  to  get  hungry 
oftener  than  ever  before.  There  was  no  end  to  the  bread 
that  the  children  ate  from  morning  till  night — at  least  it 
seemed  so,  while  a  tin  reflector  was  my  only  oven,  and  the 
fire  required  for  baking  drove  us  all  out  of  doors. 

Washing  days,  proverbial  elsewhere  for  indescribable 
horrors,  were  our  times  of  jubilee.  Mrs.  Jennings,  who 
long  acted  as  my  factotum  on  these  occasions,  always  per 
formed  the  entire  operation,  al  fresco,  by  the  side  of  the 
creek,  with  , 


80  ANEWHOME, 

'A  kettle  slung 
Between  two  poles,  upon  a  stick  transverse.' 

I  feel  much  indebted  to  Cowper  for  having  given  a 
poetical  grace  to  the  arrangement.  '  The  shady  shadow  of 
an  umbrageous  tree '  (I  quote  from  an  anonymous  author) 
served  for  a  canopy,  and  there  the  bony  dame  generally 
made  a  pic  nic  meal,  which  I  took  care  to  render  as 
agreeable  as  possible,  by  sending  as  many  different  articles 
as  the  basket, could  be  persuaded  to  receive,  each  contained 
in  that  characteristic  of  the  country,  a  pint  bowl. 

But,  oh  !  the  ironing  days !  Memory  shrinks  from  the 
review.  Some  of  the  ordinary  household  affairs  could  be 
managed  by  the  aid  of  a  fire  made  on  some  large  stones 
at  a  little  distance  from  the  house ;  and  this  did  very 
well  when  the  wind  sat  in  the  right  quarter;  which  it 
did  not  always,  as  witness  the  remains  of  the  pretty  pink 
gingham  which  fell  a  sacrifice  to  my  desire  for  an  after 
noon  cup  of  coffee.  But  the  ironing  and  the  baking  were 
imperious ;  and  my  forest  Hecate,  who  seemed  at  times  to 
belong  to  the  salamander  tribe,  always  made  as  much  fire 
as  the  stick-chimney,  with  its  crumbling  clay-lining,  would 
possibly  bear.  She  often  succeeded  in  bringing  to  a  white- 
heat  the  immense  stone  which  served  as  a  chimney-back, 
while  the  deep  gaps  in  the  stone  hearth,  which  Alice  called 
the  Rocky  Mountains,  were  filled  with  burning  coals  out  to 
the  very  floor.  I  have  sometimes  suspected  that  the 
woman  loved  to  torment  me,  but  perhaps  I  wrong  her. 
She  was  used  to  it,  I  dare  say,  for  she  looked  like  one 
exsiccated  in  consequence  of  ceaseless  perspiration. 

When  the  day  declined,  and  its  business  was  laid  aside, 
it  was  our  practice  to  walk  to  and  fro  before  the  door,  till 
the  house  had  been  thoroughly  cooled  by  the  night  air; 


WHO'LL    FOLLOW?  81 

and  these  promenades,  usually  made  pleasant  by  long  talks 

about  home,  and  laughing  conjectures  as  to  what and 

would  say  if  they  could  see  our  new  way  of  life,  were 

frequently  prolonged  to  a  late  hour.  And  to  this  most 
imprudent  indulgence  we  could  not  but  trace  the  agues 
which  soon  prostrated  most  of  us. 

We  had,  to  be  sure,  been  warned  by  our  eastern  friends 
that  we  should  certainly  have  the  ague,  do  what  we  might, 
but  we  had  seen  so  many  persons  who  had  been  settled  for 
years  in  the  open  country,  and  who  were  yet  in  perfect 
health,  that  we  had  learned  to  imagine  ourselves  secure. 
I  am  still  of  the  opinion  that  care  and  rational  diet  will 
enable  most  persons  to  avoid  this  terrible  disease  ;  and  I 
record  this  grave  medical  view  of  things  for  the  encourage 
ment  and  instruction  of  such  of  my  city  friends  as  may 
hereafter  find  themselves  borne  westward  by  the  irresistible 
current  of  affairs  :  trusting  that  the  sad  fate  of  their  prede 
cessors  will  deter  them  from  walking  in  the  open  air  till  ten 
o'clock  at  night  without  hat  or  shawl. 


82  ANEWHOME, 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

Down   with  the   topmast;  yare;  lower;  lower;  bring  her  to  try  with  main- 
course.  TEMPEST. 

WHEN  Angeline  left  me,  which  she  did  after  a  few  days, 
I  was  obliged  to  employ  Mrs.  Jennings  to  '  chore  round/ 
to  borrow  her  own  expression ;  and  as  Mr.  Clavers  was 
absent  much  of  the  time,  I  had  the  full  enjoyment  of  her 
delectable  society,  with  that  of  her  husband  and  two  chil 
dren,  who  often  came  to  meals  very  sociably,  and  made 
themselves  at  home  with  small  urgency  on  my  part.  The 
good  lady's  habits  required  strong  green  tea  at  least  three 
times  a  day ;  and  between  these  three  times  she  drank  the 
remains  of  the  tea  from  the  spout  of  the  tea-pot,  saying  '  it 
tasted  better  so/  '  If  she  had  n't  it/  she  said,  '  she  had 
the  'sterics  so  that  she  was  n't  able  to  do  a  chore/  And 
her  habits  were  equally  imperious  in  the  matter  of  dipping 
with  her  own  spoon  or  knife  into  every  dish  on  the  table. 
She  would  have  made  out  nobly  on  kibaubs,  for  even  that 
unwieldly  morsel,  a  boiled  ham,  she  grasped  by  the  hock 
and  cut  off  in  mouthfuls  with  her  knife,  declining  all  aid 
from  the  carver,  and  saying  coolly  that  she  made  out  very 
well.  It  was  in  vain  one  offered  her  anything,  she  replied 
invariably  with  a  dignified  nod,  '  I  '11  help  myself,  I  thank 
ye.  I  never  want  no  waitin  on/  And  this  reply  is  the 
universal  one  on  such  occasions,  as  I  have  since  had  vexa 
tious  occasion  to  observe. 


WHO'LL    FOLLOW?  83 

Let  no  one  read  with  an  incredulous  shake  of  the  head, 
but  rather  let  my  sketch  of  these  peculiar  habits  of  my 
neighbors  be  considered  as  a  mere  beginning,  a  shadow  of 
what  might  be  told.  I  might 

'Amaze  indeed 
The  very  faculty  of  eyes  and  ears.' 

but  I  forbear. 

If  '  grandeur  hear  with  a  disdainful  smile  ' — thinking  it 
would  be  far  better  to  starve  than  to  eat  under  such 
circumstances,  I  can  only  say  such  was  not  my  hungry 
view  of  the  case ;  and  that  I  often  found  rather  amusing 
exercise  for  my  ingenuity  in  contriving  excuses  and  plans  to 
get  the  old  lady  to  enjoy  her  meals  alone.  To  have 
offered  her  outright  a  separate  table,  though  the  board 
should  groan  with  all  the  delicacies  of  the  city,  would  have 
been  to  secure  myself  the  unenviable  privilege  of  doing 
my  own  'chores,'  at  least  till  I  could  procure  a  'help' 
from  some  distance  beyond  the  reach  of  my  friend  Mrs. 
Jennings's  tongue. 

It  did  not  require  a  very  long  residence  in  Michigan, 
to  convince  me  that  it  is  unwise  to  attempt  to  stem 
directly  the  current  of  society,  even  in  the  wilderness, 
but  I  have  since  learned  many  ways  of  wearing  round, 
which  give  me  the  opportunity  of  living  very  much  after 
my  own  fashion,  without  offending,  very  seriously,  any 
body's  prejudices. 

No  settlers  are  so  uncomfortable  as  those  who,  coming 
with  abundant  means  as  they  suppose,  to  be  comfortable, 
set  out  with  a  determination  to  live  as  they  have  been 
accustomed  to  live.  They  soon  find  that  there  are  places 
where  the  '  almighty  dollar  '  is  almost  powerless  ;  or  rather 
that,  powerful  as  it  is,  it  meets  with  its  conqueror  in  the 


84  ANEWHOME, 

jealous  pride  of  those  whose  services  must  be  had  in  order 
to  live  at  all. 

'Luff  when  it  blows,'  is  a  wise  and  necessary  caution. 
Those  who  forget  it  and  attempt  to  carry  all  sail  set  and  to 
keep  an  unvarying  course,  blow  which  way  it  will,  always 
abuse  Michigan,  and  are  abused  in  their  turn.  Several 
whom  we  have  known  to  set  out  with  this  capital  mistake 
have  absolutely  turned  about  again  in  despair,  revenging 
themselves  by  telling  very  hard  stories  about  us  nor- 
'  westers. 

Touchstone's  philosophy  is  your  only  wear  for  this 
meridian. 

Corin.    And  how  like  you  this  shepherd's  life,  Master  Touchstone  ? 

Touch.  Truly,  shepherd,  in  respect  of  itself,  it  is  a  good  life  ;  but  in  respect  it 
is  a  shepherd's  life,  it  is  naught.  In  respect  that  it  is  solitary,  I  like  it  very  well ; 
but  in  respect  that  it  is  private,  it  is  a  very  vile  life.  Now,  in  respect  that  it  is  in  the 
fields,  it  pleaseth  me  well ;  but  in  respect  it  is  not  in  the  court,  it  is  tedious.  As  it 
is  a  spare  life,  look  you,  it  fits  my  humor  well ;  but  as  there  is  no  plenty  in  it,  it 
goes  much  against  my  stomach.  Hast  any  philosophy  in  thee,  shepherd  ? 

Nobody  will  quarrel  with  this  view  of  things.  You  may 
say  any  thing  you  like  of  the  country  or  its  inhabitants ; 
but  beware  how  you  raise  a  suspicion  that  you  despise 
the  homely  habits  of  those  around  you.  This  is  never 
forgiven. 

It  would  be  in  vain  to  pretend  that  this  state  of  society 
can  ever  be  agreeable  to  those  who  have  been  accus 
tomed  to  the  more  rational  arrangements  of  the  older 
world.  The  social  character  of  meals,  in  particular,  is 
quite  destroyed,  by  the  constant  presence  of  strangers, 
whose  manners,  habits  of  thinking,  and  social  connexions 
are  quite  different  from  your  own,  and  often  exceedingly 
repugnant  to  your  taste.  Granting  the  correctness  of  the 
opinion  which  may  be  read  in  their  countenances  that  they 
are  « as  good  as  you  are,'  I  must  insist,  that  a  greasy  cook- 


W  H  0  '  L  L    F  0  L  L  O  W  ?  85 

maid,  or  a  redolent  stable-boy,  can  never  be,  to  my 
thinking,  an  agreeable  table  companion — putting  pride, 
that  most  terrific  bug-bear  of  the  woods,  out  of  the 
question. 

If  the  best  man  now  living  should  honor  my  humble 
roof  with  his  presence — if  he  should  happen  to  have  an 
unfortunate  penchant  for  eating  out  of  the  dishes,  picking 
his  teeth  with  his  fork,  or  using  the  fire-place  for  a  pocket 
handkerchief,  I  would  prefer  he  should  take  his  dinner 
solus  or  with  those  who  did  as  he  did. 

But,  I  repeat  it,  those  who  find  these  inconveniences 
most  annoying  while  all  is  new  and  strange  to  them,  will, 
by  the  exertion  of  a  little  patience  and  ingenuity,  discover 
ways  and  means  of  getting  aside  of  what  is  most  un 
pleasant,  in  the  habits  of  their  neighbors ;  and  the  silent 
influence  of  example  is  daily  effecting  much  towards 
reformation  in  many  particulars.  Neatness,  propriety,  and 
that  delicate  forbearance  of  the  least  encroachment  upon 
the  rights  or  the  enjoyments  of  others,  which  is  the  essence 
of  true  elegance  of  manner,  have  only  to  be  seen  and 
understood  to  be  admired  and  imitated ;  and  I  would  fain 
persuade  those  who  are  groaning  under  certain  inflictions  to 
which  I  have  but  alluded,  that  the  true  way  of  overcoming 
all  the  evils  of  which  they  complain  is  to  set  forth  in  their 
own  manners  and  habits,  all  that  is  kind,  forbearing,  true, 
lovely,  and  of  good  report.  They  will  find  ere  long  that 
their  neighbors  have  taste  enough  to  love  what  is  so 
charming,  even  though  they  see  it  exemplified  by  one  who 
sits  all  day  in  a  carpeted  parlor,  teaches  her  own  children 
instead  of  sending  them  to  the  district  school,  hates  'the 
breath  of  garlic-eaters,'  and  —  oh,  fell  climax!  —  knows 
nothing  at  all  of  soap -making. 
8 


86  A    NEW    HOME, 


CHAPTER    XV. 

Honester  men  have  stretch'd  a  rope,  or  the  law  has  been  sadly  cheated.    But 
this  unhappy  business  of  yours  ?    Can  nothing  be  done  ?    Let  me  see  the  charge. 

He  took  the  papers,  and,  as  he  read  them,  his  countenance  grew  hopelessly 
dark  and  disconsolate. 

ANTIQUARY. 

A  strange  fish !    Were  I  in  England  now,  and  had  but  this  fish  painted,  not  a 
holiday  fool  there  but  would  give  me  a  piece  of  silver. 

TKMPKST. 

Sorrow  chang'd  to  solace,  and  solace  mixed  with  sorrow. 

TIIK  PASSIONATE  PILGRIM. 

SEVERAL  lots  had  already  been  purchased  in  Montacute, 
and  some  improvement  marked  each  succeeding  day.  The 
mill  had  grown  to  its  full  stature,  the  dam  was  nearly 
completed ;  the  tavern  began  to  exhibit  promise  of  its 
present  ugliness,  and  all  seemed  prosperous  as  our  best 
dreams,  when  certain  rumors  were  set  afloat  touching  the 
solvency  of  our  disinterested  friend  Mr.  Hazard.  After 
two  or  three  days'  whispering,  a  tall  black-broAved  man 
who  '  happened  in '  from  Gullsborough,  the  place  which 
had  for  some  time  been  honored  as  the  residence  of  the 
Dousterswivel  of  Montacute,  stated  boldly  that  Mr.  Mazard 
had  absconded ;  or,  in  Western  language,  '  cleared.'  It 
seemed  passing  strange  that  he  should  run  away  from  the 
large  house  which  was  going  on  under  his  auspices ;  the 
materials  all  on  the  ground  and  the  work  in  full  progress. 
Still  more  unaccountable  did  it  appear  to  us  that  his  work- 


W  H  0  '  L  L    F  O  L  L  O  W  ?  87 

men  should  go  on  so  quietly,  without  so  much  as  expressing 
any  anxiety  about  their  pay. 

Mr.  Clavers  had  just  been  telling  me  of  these  things, 
when  the  long-  genius  above  mentioned  presented  himself 

O     O  * 

at  the  door  of  the  loggery.  His  abord  was  a  singular 
mixture  of  coarseness  and  an  attempt  at  being  civil ;  and 
he  sat  for  some  minutes  looking  round  and  asking  various 
questions  before  he  touched  the  main-spring  of  his  visit. 

At  length,  after  some  fumbling  in  his  pocket,  he  pro 
duced  a  dingy  sheet  of  paper,  which  he  handed  to  Mr 
Clavers. 

'  There  ;  I  want  you  to  read  that,  and  tell  me  what  you 
think  of  it.' 

I  did  not  look  at  the  paper,  but  at  my  husband's  face, 
which  was  blank  enough.  He  walked  away  with  the  tall 
man,  '  and  I  saw  no  more  of  them  at  that  time.' 

Mr.  Clavers  did  not  return  until  late  in  the  evening,  and 
it  was  then  I  learned  that  Mr.  Mazard  had  been  getting 
large  quantities  of  lumber  and  other  materials  on  his 
account,  and  as  his  agent ;  and  that  the  money  which  had 
been  placed  in  the  agent's  hands,  for  the  purchase  of 
certain  lands  to  be  flowed  by  the  mill-pond,  had  gone  into 
government  coffers  in  payment  for  sundry  eighty-acre  lots, 
which  were  intended  for  his,  Mr.  Mazard's,  private  behoof 
and  benefit.  These  items  present  but  a  sample  of  our 
amiable  friend's  trifling  mistakes.  I  will  not  fatigue  the 
reader  by  dwelling  on  the  subject.  The  results  of  all 
this  were  most  unpleasant  to  us.  Mr.  Clavers  found  him 
self  involved  to  a  large  amount;  and  his  only  remedy 
seemed  to  be  to  prosecute  Mr.  Mazard.  A  consultation 
with  his  lawyer,  however,  convinced  him,  that  even  by 
this  most  disagreeable  mode,  redress  was  out  of  the  ques- 


88  A    N  E  W    H  O  M  E  , 

tion,  since  lie  had,  through  inadvertence,  rendered  himself 
liable  for  whatever  that  gentleman  chose  to  buy  or  engage 
in  his  name.  All  that  could  be  done,  was  to  get  out  of 
the  affair  with  as  little  loss  as  possible,  and  to  take  warn 
ing  against  land-sharks  in  future. 

An  immediate  journey  to  Detroit  became  necessary,  and 
I  was  once  more  left  alone,  and  in  no  overflowing 
spirits.  I  sat, 

4  Revolving  in  my  altered  soul 
The  various  turns  of  fate  below,' 

when  a  tall  damsel,  of  perhaps  twenty-eight  or  thirty, 
came  in  to  make  a  visit.  She  was  tastefully  attired  in  a 
blue  gingham  dress,  with  broad  cuffs  of  black  morocco, 
and  a  black  cambric  apron  edged  with  orange  worsted 
lace.  Her  oily  black  locks  were  cut  quite  short  round 
the  ears,  and  confined  close  to  her  head  by  a  black  ribbon, 
from  one  side  of  which  depended,  almost  in  her  eye,  two 
very  long  tassels  of  black  silk,  intended  to  do  duty  as 
curls.  Prunelle  slippers  with  high  heels,  and  a  cotton 
handkerchief  tied  under  the  chin,  finished  the  costume, 
which  I  have  been  thus  particular  in  describing,  because 
I  have  observed  so  many  that  were  nearly  similar. 

The  lady  greeted  me  in  the  usual  style,  with  a  familiar 
nod,  and  seated  herself  at  once  in  a  chair  near  the  door. 

'Well,  how  do  you  like  Michi^aw.?' 

This  question  received  the  most  polite  answer  which  my 
conscience  afforded ;  and  I  asked  the  lady  in  my  turn,  if 
she  was  one  of  my  neighbors  ? 

'  Why,  massy,  yes  !'  she  replied  ;  '  don't  you  know  me  ? 
I  tho't  every  body  know'd  me.  Why,  I'm  the  school 
ma'am,  Simeon  Jenkins's  sister,  Cleory  Jenkins.' 

Thus  introduced,  I  put  all  my  civility  in  requisition  to 
entertain  my  guest,  but  she  seemed  quite  independent, 


-Why  law!  that's  nothing  hut  pride  now:  folks  is  often  too 
proud  to  take  comfort.  "For  my  part  I  could'nt  do  without jny 
pipe  to  please  nohody  " 


WHO'LL    FOLLOW?  89 

finding   amusement  for  herself,  and   asking  questions  on 
every  possible  theme. 

'  You're  doing  your  own  work  now,  a'n't  ye  ?' 

This  might  not  be  denied  ;  and  I  asked  if  she  did  not 
know  of  a  girl  whom  I  might  be  likely  to  get. 

'Well,  I  don't  know,  I'm  looking  for  a  place  where 
I  can  board  and  do  chores  myself.  I  have  a  good  deal 
of  time  before  school,  and  after  I  get  back ;  and  I  did  n't 
know  but  I  might  suit  ye  for  a  while.' 

I  was  pondering  on  this  proffer,  when  the  sallow  damsel 
arose  from  her  seat,  took  a  short  pipe  from  her  bosom, 
(not  'Pan's  reedy  pipe,'  reader,)  filled  it  with  tobacco, 
which  she  carried  in  her  '  work  pocket/  and  reseating 
herself,  began  to  smoke  with  the  greatest  gusto,  turning 
ever  and  anon  to  spit  at  the  hearth. 

Incredible  again  ?  alas,  would  it  were  not  true  !  I  have 
since  known  a  girl  of  seventeen,  who  was  attending  a 
neighbor's  sick  infant,  smoke  the  live-long  day,  and  take 
sriuff  besides  ;  and  I  can  vouch  for  it,  that  a  large  propor 
tion  of  the  married  women  in  the  interior  of  Michigan  use 
tobacco  in  some  form,  usually  that  of  the  odious  pipe. 

I  took  the  earliest  decent  opportunity  to  decline  the 
offered  help,  telling  the  school-ma'am  plainly,  that  an 
inmate  who  smoked  would  make  the  house  uncomfortable 
to  me. 

*  Why,  law  !'  said  she,  laughing ;  '  that's  nothing  but 
pride  now :  folks  is  often  too  proud  to  take  comfort.  For 
my  part,  I  could  n't  do  without  my  pipe  to  please  nobody.' 

Mr.  Simeon   Jenkins,  the   brother  of   this    independent 
young  lady,    now  made  his    appearance  on  some  trifling 
errand ;  and  his  sister  repeated  to  him  what  I  had  said. 
Mr.  Jenkins  took  his  inch  of  cigar  from  his  mouth,  and 
8* 


90  A    NEW    HOME, 

asked  if  I  really  disliked  tobacco  smoke,  seeming  to  think 
it  scarcely  possible. 

*  Do  n't  your  old  man  smoke  ?'  said  he. 

*  No,  indeed/  said  I,  with  more  than  my  usual  energy  ; 
1 1  should  hope  he  never  would.' 

'  Well,'  said  neighbor  Jenkins,  '  I  tell  you  what,  I'm 
boss  at  home  ;  and  if  my  old  woman  was  to  stick  up  that 
fashion,  I'd  keep  the  house  so  blue  she  could  n't  see  to 
snuff  the  candle.' 

His  sister  laughed  long  and  loud  at  this  sally,  which 
was  uttered  rather  angrily,  and  with  an  air  of  most  manful 
bravery ;  and  Mr.  Jenkins,  picking  up  his  end  of  cigar 
from  the  floor,  walked  off  with  an  air  evidently  intended 
to  be  as  expressive  as  the  celebrated  and  oft-quoted  nod 
of  Lord  Burleigh  in  the  Critic. 

Miss  Jenkins  was  still  arguing  on  the  subject  of  her  pipe, 
when  a  gentleman  approached,  whose  dress  and  manner 
told  me  that  he  did  not  belong  to  our  neighborhood.  He 
was  a  red-faced,  jolly-looking  person,  evidently  '  well  to 
do  in  the  world,'  and  sufficiently  consequential  for  any 
meridian.  He  seated  himself  quite  unceremoniously — for 
who  feels  ceremony  in  a  log  house  ? — said  he  understood 
Mr.  Clavers  was  absent — then  hesitated ;  and,  as  Miss 
Jenkins  afterwards  observed,  '  hummed  and  hawed/  and 
seemed  as  if  he  would  fain  say  something,  but  scarce  knew 
how. 

At  length  Miss  Cleora  took  the  hint — a  most  necessary 
point  of  delicacy,  where  there  is  no  withdrawing  room. 
She  gave  her  parting  nod,  and  disappeared ;  and  the  old 
gentleman  proceeded. 

He  had  come  to  Montacute  with  the  view  of  settling  his 
son,  '  a  wild  chap/  he  said,  a  lawyer  by  profession,  and  not 


WHO'LL    FOLLOW?  91 

very  fond  of  work  of  any  sort ;  but  as  he  himself  had  a 
good  deal  of  land  in  the  vicinity,  he  thought  his  son  might 
find  employment  in  attending  to  it,  adding  such  professional 
business  as  might  occur. 

'  But  what  I  wished  particularly  to  say,  my  dear  madam,' 
said  he,  '  regards  rather  my  son's  wife  than  himself.  She 
is  a  charming  girl,  and  accustomed  to  much  indulgence  ; 
and  I  have  felt  afraid  that  a  removal  to  a  place  so  new  as 
this  might  be  too  trying  to  her.  I  knew  you  must  be  well 
able  to  judge  of  the  difficulties  to  be  encountered  here,  and 
took  the  liberty  of  calling  on  that  account.' 

I  was  so  much  pleased  with  the  idea  of  having  a  neigh 
bor,  whose  habits  might  in  some  respects  accord  with  my 
own,  that  I  fear  I  was  scarcely  impartial  in  the  view  which 
I  gave  Mr.  Rivers,  of  the  possibilities  of  Montacute.  At 
least,  I  communicated  only  such  as  rises  before  my  own 
mind,  while  watching  perhaps  a  glorious  sunset  reflected  in 
the  glassy  pond  ;  my  hyacinths  in  all  their  glory ;  the 
evening  breeze  beginning  to  sigh  in  the  tree  tops  ;  the 
children  just  coming  in  after  a  fine  frolic  with  D'Orsay  on 
the  grass  ;  and  Papa  and  Prince  returning  up  the  lane.  At 
such  times,  I  always  conclude  that  Montacute  is,  after  all, 
a  dear  little  world  ;  and  I  am  probably  quite  as  near  the 
truth,  as  when, 

'on  some  cold  rainy  day, 

When  the  birds  cannot  show  a  dry  feather ;' 

when  Arthur  comes  in  with  a  pound  of  mud  on  each  foot, 
D'Orsay  at  his  heels,  bringing  in  as  much  more  ;  little  Bell 
crying  to  go  out  to  play ;  Charlie  prodigiously  fretful  with 
his  prospective  tooth  ;  and  some  gaunt  marauder  from  '  up 
north,'  or  'out  west,'  sits  talking  on  'business,'  and  covering 
my  andirons  with  tobacco  juice ;  I  determine  sagely  that 


92  A    N  B  W    H  O  M  E  , 

a  life  in  the  woods  is  worse  than  no  life  at  all.  One  view 
is,  I  insist,  as  good  as  the  other ;  but  I  told  Mr.  Rivers  he 
must  make  due  allowance  for  my  desire  to  have  his  fair 
daughter-in-law  for  a  neighbor,  with  which  he  departed  ; 
and  I  felt  that  my  gloom  had  essentially  lightened  in  con 
sequence  of  his  visit. 


WHO'LL     FOLLOW?  93 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

Art  thou  so  confident?  within  what  space 
Hop'st  thou  my  cure? 

ALL'S    WELL    THAT    ENDS     WELL. 

MR.  C  LAYERS  at  length  returned  ;  and  the  progress  of 
the  village,  though  materially  retarded  by  the  obliquities  of 
Mr.  Hazard's  course,  was  still  not  entirely  at  a  stand.  If 
our  own  operations  were  slow  and  doubtful,  there  were 
others  whose  building  and  improvement  went  on  at  a  rapid 
rate !  and  before  the  close  of  the  summer,  several  small 
tenements  were  enclosed  and  rendered  in  some  sort  habit 
able.  A  store  and  a  public  house  were  to  be  ready  for 
business  in  a  very  short  time. 

I  had  the  pleasure  of  receiving  early  in  the  month  of 
September,  a  visit  from  a  young  city  friend,  a  charming 
lively  girl,  who  unaffectedly  enjoyed  the  pleasures  of  the 
country,  and  whose  taste  for  long  walks  and  rides  was  insa 
tiable.  I  curtained  off  with  the  unfailing  cotton  sheets  a 
snow-white  bower  for  her  in  the  loft,  and  spread  a  piece  of 
carpeting,  a.  relic  of  former  magnificence,  over  the  loose 
boards  that  served  for  a  floor.  The  foot  square  window 
was  shaded  by  a  pink  curtain,  and  a  bedside  chair  and  a 
candlestand  completed  a  sleeping  apartment  which  she 
declared  was  perfectly  delightful. 

So  smoothly  flowed  our  days  during  that  charming  visit 
that  I  had  begun  to  fear  my  fair  guest  would  be  obliged  to 
return  to  —  without  a  single  adventure  worth  telling, 


94  A    NEW    HOME, 

when  one  morning  as  we  sat  sewing,  Arthur  ran  in  with  a 
prodigious  snake  story,  to  which,  though  we  were  at  first 
disposed  to  pay  no  attention,  we  were  at  length  obliged  to 
listen. 

'  A  most  beautiful  snake,'  he  declared,  '  was  coming  up 
to  the  back  door. ' 

To  the  back  door  we  ran ;  and  there,  to  be  sure,  was  a 
large  rattlesnake,  or  massasauga,  lazily  winding  its  course 
towards  the  house,  Alice  standing  still  to  admire  it,  too 
ignorant  to  fear. 

My  young  friend  snatched  up  a  long  switch,  whose  ordi 
nary  office  was  to  warn  the  chickens  from  the  dinner- table, 
and  struck  at  the  reptile,  which  was  not  three  feet  from  the 
door.  It  reared  its  head  at  once,  made  several  attempts  to 
strike,  or  spring,  as  it  is  called  here,  though  it  never  really 
springs.  Fanny  continued  to  strike  ;  and  at  length  the 
snake  turned  for  flight,  not  however  without  a  battle  of 
at  least  two  minutes. 

*  Here's  the  axe,  cousin  Fanny,'  said  Arthur,  'don't  let 
him  run  away  !'  and  while  poor  I  stood  in  silent  terror,  the 
brave  girl  followed,  struck  once  ineffectually,  and  with 
another  blow  divided  the  snake,  whose  writhings  turned  to 
the  sun  as  many  hues  as  the  windings  of  Broadway  on  a 
spring  morning — and  Fanny  was  a  heroine. 

It  is  my  opinion  that  next  to  having  a  cougar  spring  at 
one,  the  absolute  killing  of  a  rattlesnake  is  peculiarly  appro 
priate  to  constitute  a  Michigan  heroine  ; — and  the  cream  of 
my  snake  story  is,  that  it  might  be  sworn  to,  chapter  and 
verse,  before  the  nearest  justice.  What  cougar  story  can 
say  as  much  ? 

But  the  nobler  part  of  the  snake  ran  away  with  far  more 
celerity  than  it  had  displayed  while  it  '  could  a  tail  unfold/ 


W  H  O  '  L  L    F  O  L  L  O  VV  ?  95 

and  we  exalted  the  coda  to  a  high  station  on  the  logs  at  the 
corner  of  the  house — for  fear  none  of  the  scornful  sex 
would  credit  our  prowess. 

That  snake  absolutely  haunted  us  for  a  day  or  two ;  we 
felt  sure  that  there  were  more  near  the  house,  and  our  ten 
days  of  happiness  seemed  cut  short  like  those  of  Segcd,  and 
by  a  cause  not  very  dissimilar.  But  the  gloom  consequent 
upon  confining  ourselves,  children  and  all,  to  the  house,  in 
delicious  weather,  was  too  much  for  our  prudence ;  and 
we  soon  began  to  venture  out  a  little,  warily  inspecting 
every  nook  and  harassing  the  poor  children  with  incessant 
cautions. 

We  had  been  watching  the  wheelings  and  Sittings  of  a 
flock  of  prairie  hens,  which  had  alighted  in  Mi*.  Jenkins's 
corn-field,  turning  ever  and  anon  a  delighted  glance  west 
ward  at  the  masses  of  purple  and  crimson  which  make 
sunset  so  splendid  in  the  region  of  the  great  lakes.  I  felt 
the  dew,  and  warning  all  my  companions,  stepped  into  the 
house.  I  had  reached  the  middle  of  the  room,  when  I 
trod  full  upon  something  soft,  which  eluded  my  foot.  I 
shrieked  '  a  snake !  a  snake  !'  and  fell  senseless  on  the 
floor. 

When  I  recovered  myself  I  was  on  the  bed,  and  well 
sprinkled  with  camphor,  that  never-failing  specific  in  the 
woods. 

'  Where  is  it  ?'  said  I,  as  soon  as  I  could  utter  a  word. 
There  was  a  general  smile.  '  Why,  mamma,'  said  Alice, 
who  was  exalted  to  a  place  on  the  bed,  '  do  n't  you  recollect 
that  great  toad  that  always  sits  behind  the  flour-barrel  in 
the  corner  ?' 

I  did  not  repent  my  fainting,  though  it  was  not  a  snake, 
for  if  there  is  anything  besides  a  snake  that  curdles  the 


96  ANEWHOME, 

blood  in  my  veins  it  is  a  toad.  The  harmless  wretch  was 
carried  to  a  great  distance  from  the  house,  but  the  next 
morning,  there  it  sat  again  in  the  corner  catching  flies.  I 
have  been  told  by  some  persons  here  that  they  '  liked  to 
have  toads  in  the  room  in  fly  time.'  Truly  it  may  be  said, 
'  What's  one  man's  meat  -  Shade  of  Chesterfield, 

forgive  me  ! — but  that  anybody  can  be  willing  to  live  with 
a  toad  !  To  my  thinking  nothing  but  a  toady  can  be  more 
odious. 

The  next  morning  I  awoke  with  a  severe  headache,  and 
racking  pains  in  every  bone.  Dame  Jennings  said  it  was 
the  '  agur'  I  insisted  that  it  could  be  nothing  but  the 
toad.  -  The  fair  Fanny  was  obliged  to  leave  us  this  day,  or 
lose  her  escort  home — a  thing  not  to  be  risked  in  the  wil 
derness.  I  thought  I  should  get  up  to  dinner,  and  in  that 
hope  bade  her  a  gay  farewell,  with  a  charge  to  make  the 
most  of  the  snake  story  for  the  honor  of  the  woods. 

I  did  not  get  up  to  dinner,  for  the  simple  reason  that  I 
could  not  stand — and  Mrs.  Jennings  consoled  me  by  telling 
me  every  ten  minutes,  '  Why,  you've  got  th'  agur !  woman 
alive  !  Why,  I  know  the  fever-agur  as  well  as  I  know 
beans  !  It  a'n't  nothing  else.' 

But  no  chills  came.  My  pains  and  my  fever  became 
intense,  and  I  knew  but  little  about  it  after  the  first  day, 
for  there  was  an  indistinctness  about  my  perceptions,  which 
almost,  although  not  quite,  amounted  to  delirium. 

A  physicion  was  sent  for,  and  we  expected,  of  course, 
some  village  Galen,  who  knew  just  enough  to  bleed  and 
blister,  for  all  mortal  ills.  No  such  thing !  A  man  of 
first-rate  education,  who  had  walked  European  hospitals, 
and  who  had  mother-wit  in  abundance  to  enable  him  to 
profit  by  his  advantages.  It  is  surprising  how  many  such 


WHO'LL    FOLLOW?  97 

people  one  meets  in  Michigan.  Some,  indeed,  we  have 
been  led  to  suppose,  from  some  traits  in  their  American 
history,  might  have  '  left  their  country  for  their  country's 
good :' — others  appear  to  have  forsaken  the  old  world, 
either  in  consequence  of  some  temporary  disgust,  or 
through  romantic  notions  of  the  liberty  to  be  enjoyed 
in  this  favored  land.  I  can  at  this  moment  call  to  mind 
several  among  our  ten-mile  neighbors,  who  can  boast 
university  honors,  either  European  or  American,  and  who 
are  reading  men,  even  now.  Yet  one  might  pass  any  one 
of  these  gentlemen  in  the  road  without  distinguishing 
between  him  and  the  Corydon  who  curries  his  horses,  so 
complete  is  their  outward  transformation. 

Our  medical  friend  treated  me  very  judiciously;  and  by 
his  skill,  the  severe  attack  of  rheumatic  fever,  which  my 
sunset  and  evening  imprudences  had  been  kindling  in  my 
veins,  subsided  after  week,  into  a  daily  ague ;  but  Mrs. 
Jennings  was  not  there  to  exult  in  this  proof  of  her 
sagacity.  She  had  been  called  away  to  visit  a  daughter, 
who  had  been  taken  ill  at  a  distance  from  home,  and  I 
was  left  without  a  nurse. 

My  neighbors  showed  but  little  sympathy  on  the  occa 
sion.  They  had  imbibed  the  idea  that  we  held  ourselves 
above  them,  and  chose  to  take  it  for  granted,  that  we  did 
not  need  their  aid.  There  were  a  good  many  cases  of 
ague  too,  and,  of  course,  people  had  their  own  troubles 
to  attend  to.  The  result  was,  that  we  were  in  a  sad  case 
enough.  0,  for  one  of  those  feminine  men,  who  can  make 
good  gruel,  and  wash  the  children's  faces !  Mr.  Clavers 
certainly  did  his  best,  -and  who  can  more  ?  But  the  hot 
side  of  the  bowl  always  would  come  to  his  fingers — and 
the  sauce- pan  would  overset,  let  him  balance  it  ever  so 
9 


98  A    NEW    HOME, 

nicely.  And  then — such  hungry  children !  They  wanted 
to  eat  all  the  time.  After  a  day's  efforts,  he  began  to 
complain  that  stooping  over  the  fire  made  him  very  dizzy. 
I  was  quite  self-absorbed,  or  I  should  have  noticed  such 
a  complaint  from  one  who  makes  none  without  cause ;  but 
the  matter  went  on,  until,  when  I  asked  for  my  gruel,  he 
had  very  nearly  fallen  on  the  coals,  in  the  attempt  to  take 
it  from  the  fire.  He  staggered  to  the  bed,  and  was 
unable  to  sit  up  for  many  days  after. 

When  matters  reached  this  pitch — when  we  had,  lite 
rally,  no  one  to  prepare  food,  or  look  after  the  children — 
little  Bell  added  to  the  sick  list  too — our  physician  proved 
our  good  genius.  He  procured  a  nurse  from  a  conside 
rable  distance  ;  and  it  was  through  his  means  that  good 
Mrs.  Danforth  heard  of  our  sad  condition,  and  sent  us  a 
maiden  of  all  work,  who  materially  amended  the  aspect 
of  our  domestic  affairs. 

Our  agues  were  tremendous.  I  used  to  think  I  should 
certainly  die  in  my  ten  or  twelve  hours'  fever — and  Mr. 
Clavers  confidently  asserted,  several  times,  that  the  upper 
half  of  his  head  was  taking  leave  of  the  lower.  But 
the  event  proved  that  we  were  both  mistaken ;  for  our 
physician  verified  his  own  assertion,  that  an  ague  was  as 
easily  managed  as  a  common  cold,  by  curing  us  both  in  a 
short  time  after  our  illness  had  assumed  the  intermittent 
form.  There  is,  however,  one  important  distinction  to  be 
observed  between  a  cold  and  the  ague — the  former 
does  not  recur  after  every  trifling  exertion,  as  the  latter  is 
sure  to  do.  Again  and  again,  after  we  seemed  entirely 
cured,  did  the  insidious  enemy  renew  his  attacks.  A 
short  ride,  a  walk,  a  drive  of  two  or  three  miles,  and  we 
were  prostrated  for  a  week  or  two.  Even  a  slight  alarm. 


WHO'LL     FOLLOW?  99 

or  anything  that  occasioned  an  unpleasant  surprise,  would 
be  followed  by  a  chill  and  fever. 

These  things  are,  it  must  be  conceded,  very  discoura 
ging.  One  learns  to  feel  as  if  the  climate  must  be  a 
wretched  one,  and  it  is  not  till  after  these  first  clouds  have 
blown  over,  that  we  have  resolution  to  look  around  us — 
to  estimate  the  sunny  skies  of  Michigan,  and  the  ruddy 
countenances  of  its  older  inhabitants  as  they  deserve. 

The  people  are  obstinately  attached  to  some  supersti 
tious  notions  respecting  agues.  They  hold  that  it  is 
unlucky  to  break  them.  '  You  should  let  them  run  on,' 
say  they,  '  till  they  wear  themselves  out.'  This  has  proba 
bly  arisen  from  some  imprudent  use  of  quinine,  (or  '  Queen 
Ann,')  and  other  powerful  tonics,  which  are  often  taken 
before  the  system  is  properly  prepared.  There  is  also 
much  prejudice  against  '  Doctor's  physic ;'  while  lobelia, 
and  other  poisonous  plants,  which  happen  to  grow  wild 
in  the  woods,  are  used  with  the  most  reckless  rashness. 
The  opinion  that  each  region  produces  the  medicines  which 
its  own  diseases  require,  prevails  extensively, — a  notion 
which,  though  perhaps  theoretically  correct  to  a  certain 
extent,  is  a  most  dangerous  one  for  the  ignorant  to 
practise  upon. 

These  agues  are,  as  yet,  the  only  diseases  of  the  country. 
Consumption  is  almost  unknown  as  a  Michigan  evil. 
Indeed  many,  who  have  been  induced  to  forsake  the  sea 
board  by  reason  of  too  sensitive  lungs,  find  themselves 
renovated  after  a  year  in  the  peninsula.  Our  sickly  season, 
from  August  till  October,  passed  over  without  a  single 
death  within  our  knowledge. 

To  be  sure,  a  neighbor  told  me,  not  long  ago,  that  her 
old  man  had  a  complaint  of  '  the  lights,'  and  that  '  to  try 


100  A    NEW    HOME, 

to  work  any,  gits  his  lights  all  up  in  a  heap.'  But  as  this 
is  a  disease  beyond  the  bounds  of  -my  medical  knowledge, 
I  can  only  '  say  the  tale  as  't  was  said  to  me,'  hoping  that 
none  of  my  emigrating  friends  may  find  it  contagious : — 
any  disease  which  is  brought  on  by  working,  being  cer 
tainly  much  to  be  dreaded  in  this  Western  country  ! 


WHO'LL    FOLLOW?  101 


CHAPTER  XVIrl.. 


The  house's  form  within  was  rude  and  sirong,    , 

Like  an  huge  cave  hewn  out  of  rocky  clift  j°  '  -          *  •*      •«'••» 
From  whose  rough  vault  the  ragged  breaches  hung  :— 

******* 
And  over  them  Arachne  high  did  lift 

Her  cunning  web,  and  spread  her  subtle  net, 
Enwrapped  in  foul  smoke,  and  clouds  more  black  than  jet. 

FAERY  QUEEN. 

It  were  good  that  men,  in  their  innovations,  would  follow  the  example  of  time 
itself,  which  indeed  innovateth  greatly,  but  quietly,  and  by  degrees  scarce  to  be 

perceived. 

BACON. 

IT  was  on  one  of  our  superlatively  doleful  ague  days, 
when  a  cold  drizzling  rain  had  sent  mildew  into  our 
unfortunate  bones  ;  and  I  lay  in  bed  burning  with  fever, 
while  my  stronger  half  sat  by  the  fire,  taking  his  chill  with 
his  great-coat,  hat,  and  boots  on,  that  Mr.  Rivers  came  to 
introduce  his  young  daughter-in-law.  I  shall  never  forget 
the  utterly  disconsolate  air,  which,  in  spite  of  the  fair 
lady's  politeness,  would  make  itself  visible  in  the  pauses  of 
our  conversation.  She  did  try  not  to  cast  a  curious  glance 
round  the  room.  She  fixed  her  eyes  on  the  fire-place — but 
there  were  the  clay-filled  sticks,  instead  of  a  chimney-piece 
— the  half  consumed  wooden  crane,  which  had,  more  than 
once,  let  our  dinner  fall — the  Rocky-Mountain  hearth,  and 
the  reflector  baking  biscuits  for  tea — so  she  thought  it 
hardly  polite  to  appear  to  dwell  too  long  there.  She 
turned  towards  the  window :  there  were  the  shelves,  with 
9* 


102  A    NEW    HOME, 

our  remaining  crockery,  a  grotesque  assortment !  and,  just 
beneath,  the  unnameable  iron  and  tin  affairs,  that  are  reckon 
ed  among  the  indispensables,  even  of  the  half-civilized  state. 
She  tried  the  other  side,  but  there  was  the  ladder,  the 
flour-barrel,  and  a  host  of  other  things — rather  odd  parlor 
furniture-r-gnct  s»he.  cast  her  eyes  on  the  floor,  with  its 
gaping  cracks,  wide  enough  to  admit  a  massasauga  from 
below,  and  its  inequalities,  which  might  trip  any  but  a 
sylph.  The  poor  thing  looked  absolutely  confounded,  and 
I  exerted  all  the  energy  my  fever  had  left  me,  to  try  to  say 
something  a  little  encouraging. 

'  Come  to-morrow  morning,  Mrs.  Rivers,'  said  I,  '  and 
you  shall  see  the  aspect  of  things  quite  changed;  and  I 
shall  be  able  to  tell  you  a  great  deal  in  favor  of  this  wild 
life.' 

She  smiled  faintly,  and  tried  not  to  look  miserable,  but  I 
saw  plainly,  that  she  was  sadly  depressed,  and  I  could  not 
feel  surprised  that  she  should  be  so.  Mr.  Rivers  spoke 
very  kindly  to  her,  and  filled  up  all  the  pauses  in  our 
forced  talk  with  such  cheering  observations  as  he  could 
muster. 

He  had  found  lodgings,  he  said,  in  a  farm-house,  not  far 
from  us,  and  his  son's  house  would,  ere  long,  be  completed, 
when  we  should  be  quite  near  neighbors. 

I  saw  tears  swelling  in  the  poor  girl's  eyes,  as  she  took 
leave,  and  I  longed  to  be  well  for  her  sake.  In  this 
newly-formed  world,  the  earlier  settler  has  a  feeling  of 
hostess-ship  toward  the  new  comer.  I  speak  only  of 
women — men  look  upon  each  one,  newly  arrived,  merely  as 
an  additional  business-automaton — a  somebody  more  with 
whom  to  try  the  race  of  enterprise,  i.  e.,  money-making. 

The  next  day  Mrs.  Rivers  came  again,  and  this  time  her 


WHO'LL    FOLLOW?  103 

husband  was  with  her.  Then  I  saw  at  a  glance  why  it 
was  that  life  in  the  wilderness  looked  so  peculiarly  gloomy 
to  her.  Her  husband's  face  showed  but  too  plainly  the 
marks  of  early  excess :  and  there  was  at  intervals,  in  spite 
of  an  evident  effort  to  play  the  agreeable,  an  appearance  of 
absence,  of  indifference,  which  spoke  volumes  of  domestic 
history.  He  made  innumerable  inquiries,  touching  the 
hunting  and  fishing  facilities  of  the  country  around  us, 
expressed  himself  enthusiastically  fond  of  those  sports,  and 
said  the  country  was  a  living  death  without  them,  regretting 
much  that  Mr.  Clavers  was  not  of  the  same  mind. 

Meanwhile  I  had  begun  to  take  quite  an  interest  in  his 
little  wife.  I  found  that  she  was  as  fond  of  novels  and 
poetry,  as  her  husband  was  of  field-sports.  Some  of  her 
flights  of  sentiment  went  quite  beyond  my  sobered-down 
views.  But  I  saw  we  should  get  on  admirably,  and  so  we 
have  done  ever  since.  I  did  not  mistake  that  pleasant 
smile,  and  that  soft  sweet  voice.  They  are  even  now  as 
attractive  as  ever.  And  I  had  a  neighbor. 

Before  the  winter  had  quite  set  in,  our  little  nest  was 
finished,  or  as  nearly  finished  as  any  thing  in  Michigan ; 
and  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Rivers  took  possession  of  their  new 
dwelling,  on  the  very  same  day  that  we  smiled  our  adieux 
to  the  loggery. 

Our  new  house  was  merely  the  beginning  of  a  house, 
intended  for  the  reception  of  a  front-building,  Yankee 
fashion,  whenever  the  owner  should  be  able  to  enlarge  his 
borders.  But  the  contrast  with  our  sometime  dwelling, 
made  even  this  humble  cot  seem  absolutely  sumptuous. 
The  children  could  do  nothing  but  admire  the  conveniences 
it  afforded.  Robinson  Crusoe  exulted  not  more  warmly  in 
his  successive  acquisitions  than  did  Alice  in  '  a  kitchen,  a 


104  A    NEW    HOME. 

real  kitchen !  and  a  pantry  to  put  the  dishes !'  while  Arthur 
found  much  to  praise  in  the  wee  bedroom  which  was  allotted 
as  his  sanctum  in  the  '  hie,  heec,  hoc  '  hours.  Mrs.  Rivers, 
who  was  fresh  from  the  'settlements,'  often  curled  her 
pretty  lip  at  the  deficiencies  in  her  little  mansion,  but  we 
had  learned  to  prize  any  thing  which  was  even  a  shade 
above  the  wigwam,  and  dreamed  not  of  two  parlors  or  a 
piazza. 

Other  families  removed  to  Montacute  in  the  course  of  the 
winter.  Our  visiting  list  was  considerably  enlarged,  and  I 
used  all  my  influence  with  Mrs.  Rivers  to  persuade  her  that 
her  true  happiness  lay  in  making  friends  of  her  neighbors. 
She  was  very  shy,  easily  shocked  by  those  sins  against 
Chesterfield  which  one  encounters  here  at  every  turn,  did 
not  conceal  her  fatigue  when  a  neighbor  happened  in  after 
breakfast  to  make  a  three  hours'  call,  forgot  to  ask  those 
who  came  at  one  o'clock  to  take  off  their  things  and  stay  to 
tea,  even  though  the  knitting  needles  might  peep  out 
beneath  the  shawl.  For  these  and  similar  -omissions  I 
lectured  her  continually,  but  with  little  effect.  It  was  with 
the  greatest  difficulty  I  could  persuade  her  to  enter  any 
house  but  ours,  although  I  took  especial  care  to  be  im 
partial  in  my  own  visiting  habits,  determined  at  all  sacrifice 
to  live  down  the  impression  that  I  felt  above  my  neighbors. 
In  fact,  however  we  may  justify  certain  exclusive  habits  in 
populous  places,  they  are  strikingly  and  confessedly  ridicu 
lous  in  the  wilderness.  What  can  be  more  absurd  than  a 
feeling  of  proud  distinction,  where  a  stray  spark  of  fire,  a 
sudden  illness,  or  a  day's  contre-temps,  may  throw  you 
entirely  upon  the  kindness  of  your  humblest  neighbor  ?  If 
I  treat  Mrs.  Timson  with  neglect  to-day,  can  I  with  any 
face  borrow  her  broom  to-morrow  ?  And  what  would 


WHO'LL    FOL  LOW?  105 

become  of  me,  if  in  revenge  for  my  declining  her  invitation 
to  tea  this  afternoon,  she  should  decline  coming  to  do  my 
washing  on  Monday  ? 

It  was  as  a  practical  corollary  to  these  my  lectures,  that 
I  persuaded  Mrs.  Rivers  to  accept  an  invitation  that  we 
received  for  the  wedding  of  a  young  girl,  the  sister  of  our 
cooper,  Mr.  Whitefield.  I  attired  myself  in  white,  con 
sidered  here  as  the  extreme  of  festal  elegance,  to  do  honor 
to  the  occasion  ;  and  called  for  Mrs.  Rivers  in  the  ox-cart 
at  two  o'clock. 

I  found  her  in  her  ordinary  neat  home-dress  ;  and  it 
required  some  argument  on  my  part  to  induce  her  to 
exchange  it  for  a  gay  chally  with  appropriate  ornaments. 

'  It  really  seemed  ridiculous,'  she  said,  '  to  dress  for  such 
a  place  !  and  besides,  my  dear  Mrs.  Clavers,  I  am  afraid  we 
shall  be  suspected  of  a  desire  to  outshine.' 

I  assured  her  we  were  in  more  danger  of  that  other  and 
far  more  dangerous  suspicion  of  undervaluing  our  rustic 
neighbors.  . 

'  I  s'pose  they  did  n't  think  it  worth  while  to  put  on  their 
best  gowns  for  country-folks  !' 

I  assumed  the  part  of  Mentor  on  this  and  many  similar 
occasions;  considering  myself  by  this  time  quite  an  old 
resident,  and  of  right  entitled  to  speak  for  the  natives. 

Mrs.  Rivers  was  a  little  disposed  to  laugh  at  the  ox-cart ; 
but  I  soon  convinced  her  that,  with  its  cushion  of  straw 
overspread  with  a  buffalo  robe,  it  was  far  preferable  to  a 
more  ambitious  carriage. 

'  No  letting  down  of  steps,  no  ruining  one's  dress  against 
a  muddy  wheel !  no  gay  horses  tipping  one  into  the 
gutter  !' 

She  was  obliged  to  acknowledge  the  superiority  of  our 


106  A    NEW    HOME, 

vehicle,  and  we  congratulated  ourselves  upon  reclining  d  la 
Lalla  Rookh  and  Lady  Mary  Wortley  Montague.  Certainly 
a  cart  is  next  to  a  palanquin. 

The  pretty  "bride  was  in  white  cambric,  worn  over  pink 
glazed  muslin.  The  prodigiously  stiff  under-dress  with  its 
large  cords,  (not  more  than  three  or  four  years  behind  the 
fashion,)  gave  additional  slenderness  to  her  taper  waist, 
bound  straitly  with  a  sky-blue  zone.  The  fair  h&ir  was 
decorated,  not  covered,  with  a  cap,  the  universal  adjunct  of 
full  dress  in  the  country,  placed  far  behind  the  ears,  and 
displayed  the  largest  puffs,  set  off  by  sundry  gilt  combs. 
The  unfailing  high-heeled  prunelle  shoe  gave  the  finishing- 
touch,  and  the  whole  was  scented,  a  Voutrance,  with 
essence  of  lemon. 

After  the  ceremony,  which  occupied  perhaps  one  minute, 
fully  twice  as  long  as  is  required  by  our  State  laws,  tea  was 
served, "absolutely  handed  on  a  salver,  and  by  the  master 
of  the  house,  a  respectable  farmer.  Mountains  of  cake 
followed.  I  think  either  pile  might  have  measured  a  foot 
in  height,  and  each  piece  would  have  furnished  a  meal  for 
a  hungry  school-boy.  Other  things  were  equally  abundant, 
and  much  pleasant  talk  followed  the  refreshments.  I 
returned  home  highly  delighted,  and  tried  to  persuade  my 
companion  to  look  on  the  rational  side  of  the  thing,  which 
she  scarcely  seemed  disposed  to  do,  so  outre  did  the  whole 
appear  to  her.  I,  who  had  begun  to  claim  for  myself  the 
dignified  character  of  a  cosmopolite,  a  philosophical  observer 
of  men  and  things ;  consoled  myself  for  this  derogatory 
view  of  Montacute  gentility,  by  thinking,  *  All  city  people 
are  so  cockneyish !' 


WHO'LL    FOLLOW? 


CHAPTER   XVIII. 

Lend  me  your  ears.  SHAKSPEARE. 

Grant  graciously  what  you  cannot  refuse  safely.        LACON. 

'  MOTHER  wants  your  sifter,'  said  Miss  lanthe  Howard,  a 
young  lady  of  six  years'  standing,  attired  in  a  tattered 
calico,  thickened  with  dirt ;  her  unkempt  locks  straggling 
from  under  that  hideous  substitute  for  a  bonnet,  so  uni 
versal  in  the  western  country,  a  dirty  cotton  handkerchief, 
which  is  used,  ad  nauseam,  for  all  sorts  of  purposes. 

'  Mother  wants  your  sifter,  and  she  says  she  guesses  you 
can  let  her  have  some  sugar  and  tea,  'cause  you've  got 
plenty.' 

This  excellent  reason,  '  cause  you  Ve  got  plenty,'  is  con 
clusive  as  to  sharing  with  your  neighbors.  Whoever  comes 
into  Michigan  with  nothing,  will  be  sure  to  better  his 
condition ;  but  wo  to  him  that  brings  with  him  any 
thing  like  an  appearance  of  abundance,  whether  of 
money  or  mere  household  conveniences.  To  have  them, 
and  not  be  willing  to  share  them  in  some  sort  with 
the  whole  community,  is  an  unpardonable  crime.  You 
must  lend  your  best  horse  qui  que  ce  soil  to  go  ten  miles 
over  hill  and  marsh,  in  the  darkest  night,  for  a  doctor  ;  or 
your  team  to  travel  twenty  after  a  '  gal ;'  your  wheel-bar 
rows,  your  shovels,  your  utensils  of  all  sorts,  belong,  not  to 
yourself,  but  to  the  public,  who  do  not  think  it  necessary 
even  to  ask  a  loan,  but  take  it  for  granted.  The  two  sad 
dles  and  bridles  of  Montacute  spend  most  of  their  time 


108  A    NEW    HOME, 

travelling  from  house  to  house  a-man-back ;  and  I  have 
actually  known  a  stray  martingale  to  be  traced  to  four 
dwellings  two  miles  apart,  having  been  lent  from  one  to 
another,  without  a  word  to  the  original  proprietor,  who  sat 
waiting,  not  very  patiently,  to  commence  a  journey. 

Then  within  doors,  an  inventory  of  your  plenishing  of  all 
sorts,  would  scarcely  more  than  include  the  articles  which 
you  are  solicited  to  lend.  Not  only  are  all  kitchen  utensils 
as  much  your  neighbor's  as  your  own,  but  bedsteads,  beds, 
blankets,  sheets,  travel  from  house  to  house,  a  pleasant  and 
effectual  mode  of  securing  the  perpetuity  of  certain  efflor 
escent  peculiarities  of  the  skin,  for  which  Michigan  is 
becoming  almost  as  famous  as  the  land  '  'twixt  Maidenkirk 
and  John  o'  Groat's.'  Sieves,  smoothing  irons,  and  churns, 
run  about  as  if  they  had  legs ;  one  brass  kettle  is  enough 
for  a  whole  neighborhood  ;  and  I  could  point  to  a  cradle 
which  has  rocked  half  the  babies  in  Montacute.  For  my 
own  part,  I  have  lent  my  broom,  my  thread,  my  tape,  my 
spoons,  my  cat,  my  thimble,  my  scissors,  my  shawl,  my 
shoes  ;  and  have  been  asked  for  my  combs  and  brushes : 
and  my  husband  for  his  shaving  apparatus  and  his  panta 
loons. 

But  the  cream  of  the  joke  lies  in  the  manner  of  the  thing. 
It  is  so  straight-forward  and  honest,  none  of  your  hypo 
critical  civility  and  servile  gratitude !  Your  true  repub 
lican,  when  he  finds  that  you  possess  anything  which 
would  contribute  to  his  convenience,  walks  in  with,  '  Are 
you  going  to  use  your  horses  to-day  ?'  if  horses  happen  to 
be  the  thing  he  needs. 

'  Yes,  I  shall  probably  want  them.' 

'  O,  well ;  if  you  want  them I  was  thinking  to  get 

'ein  to  go  up  north  a  piece.' 


WHO1  uL    FOLLOW?  109 

Or  perhaps  the  desired  article  comes  within  the  female 
department. 

'  Mother  wants  to  get  some  butter  :  that  'ere  butter  you 
bought  of  Miss  Barton  this  mornin.' 

And  away  goes  your  golden  store,  to  be  repaid  perhaps 
with  some  cheesy,  greasy  stuff,  brought  in  a  dirty  pail,  with, 
'  Here  's  your  butter  !' 

A  girl  came  in  to  borrow  a  '  wash-dish,'  '  because  we  Ve 
got  company.'  Presently  she  came  back:  'Mother  says 
you  Ve  forgot  to  send  a  towel.' 

'  The  pen  and  ink,  and  a  sheet  o'  paper  and  a  wafer,' 
is  no  unusual  request ;  and  when  the  pen  is  returned, 
you  are  generally  informed  that  you  sent  '  an  awful  bad 
pen.' 

I  have  been  frequently  reminded  of  one  of  Johnson's 
humorous  sketches.  A  man  returning  a  broken  wheel-bar 
row  to  a  Quaker,  with,  '  Here,  I  've  broke  your  rotten 
wheel-barrow  usin'  on't.  I  wish  you  'd  get  it  mended  right 
off,  'cause  I  want  to  borrow  it  again  this  afternoon.'  The 
Quaker  is  made  to  reply,  '  Friend,  it  shall  be  done  :'  and  I 
wish  I  possessed  more  of  his  spirit. 

But  I  did  not  intend  to  write  a  chapter  on  involuntary 
loans ;  I  have  a  story  to  tell. 

One  of  my  best  neighbors  is  Mr.  Philo  Doubleday,  a  long, 
nwkward,  honest,  hard-working  Maine-man,  or  Mainote  I 
suppose  one  might  say ;  so  good-natured,  that  he  might  be 
mistaken  for  a  simpleton ;  but  that  must  be  by  those  that 
know  him  not.  He  is  quite  an  old  settler,  came  in  four 
years  ago,  bringing  with  him  a  wife  who  is  to  him  as 
vinegar-bottle  to  oil-cruet,  or  as  mustard  to  the  sugar  which 
is  used  to  soften  its  biting  qualities.  Mrs.  Doubleday  has 
the  sharpest  eyes,  the  sharpest  nose,  the  sharpest  tongue, 

10 


HO  A    NEW    HOME, 

the  sharpest  elbows,  and  above  all,  the  sharpest  voice  that 
eyer  '  penetrated  the  interior '  of  Michigan.  She  has  a 
tall,  straight,  bony  figure,  in  contour  somewhat  resembling 
two  hard-oak  planks  fastened  together  and  stood  on  end ; 
and,  strange  to  say  !  she  was  full  five-and-thirty  when  her 
mature  graces  attracted  the  eye  and  won  the  affections  of 
the  worthy  Philo.  What  eclipse  had  come  over  Mr. 
Doubleday's  usual  sagacity  when  he  made  choice  of  his 
Polly,  I  am  sure  I  never  could  guess  ;  but  he  is  certainly 
the  only  man  in  the  wide  world  who  could  possibly  have 
lived  with  her;  and  he  makes  her  a  most  excellent 
husband. 

She  is  possessed  with  a  neat  devil ;  I  have  known  many 
such  cases  ;  her  floor  is  scoured  every  night,  after  all  are 
in  bed,  by  the  unlucky  scrubber,  Betsey,  the  maid  of  all 
work  ;  and  wo  to  the  unfortunate  '  indifiddle,'  as  neighbor 
Jenkins  says,  who  first  sets  dirty  boot  on  it  in  the  morning. 
If  men  come  in  to  talk  over  road  business,  for  Philo  is 
much  sought  when  'the  public*  has  any  work  to  do;  or 
school-business,  for  that  being  very  troublesome,  and  quite 
devoid  of  profit,  is  often  conferred  upon  Philo — Mrs. 
Doubleday  makes  twenty  errands  into  the  room,  express 
ing  in  her  visage  all  the  force  of  Mrs.  Raddle's  inquiry, 
'  Is  them  wretches  going?'  And  when  at  length  their 
backs  are  turned,  out  comes  the  bottled  vengeance.  The 
sharp  eyes,  tongue,  elbow,  and  voice,  are  all  in  instant 
requisition. 

'  Fetch  the  broom,  Betsey !  and  the  scrub  broom,  Bet 
sey  !  and  the  mop,  and  that  'ere  dish  of  soap ,  Betsey ; 
and  why  on  earth  did  n't  you  bring  some  ashes?  You 
did  n't  expect  to  clean  such  a  floor  as  this  without  ashes, 
did  you  ?'  '  What  time  are  you  going  to  have  dinner,  my 


W  HO' LL    FOLLOW  ?  H] 

dear  ?'  says  the  imperturbable  Philo,  who  is  getting  ready 
to  go  out. 

*  Dinner  !  I'm  sure  I  do  n't  know  !  there's  no  time  to  cook 
dinner  in  this  house  !   nothing  but  slave,  slave,  slave,  from 
morning  till  night,  cleaning  up  after  a  set  of  nasty,  dirty,' 
&c.    <fec.     *  Phew,'    says   Mr.   Doubleday,    looking    at    his 
fuming  helpmate    with  a  calm    smile,   'it  '11  all   rub   out 
when  it  's  dry,  if  you  '11  only  let  it  alone.' 

*  Yes,  yes  ;  and  it  would  be  plenty  clean  enough  for  you 
if  there  had  been  forty  horses  in  here.' 

Philo  on  some  such  occasion  waited  till  his  Polly  had 
stepped  out  of  the  room,  and  then  with  a  bit  of  chalk 
wrote  on  the  broad  black- walnut  mantel-piece : — 

Bolt  and  bar  hold  gate  of  wood, 
Gate  of  iron  springs  make  good, 
Bolt  nor  spring  can  bind  the  flame, 
Woman's  tongue  can  no  man  tame. 

and  then  took  his  hat  and  walked  off. 

This  is  the  favorite  mode  of  vengeance — '  poetical  justice' 
he  calls  it ;  and  as  he  is  never  at  a  loss  for  a  rhyme  of  his 
own  or  other  people's,  Mrs.  Doubleday  stands  in  no  small 
dread  of  these  efforts  of  genius.  Once,  when  Philo's  crony, 
James  Porter,  the  blacksmith,  had  left  the  print  of  his 
blackened  knuckles  on  the  outside  of  the  oft-scrubbed  door, 
and  was  the  subject  of  some  rather  severe  remarks  from  the 
gentle  Polly,  Philo,  as  he  left  the  house  with  his  friend, 
turned  and  wrote  over  the  offended  spot : — 

Knock  not  here ! 
Or  dread  my  dear. 

P.  D. 

and  the  very  next  person  that  came  was  Mrs.  Skinner,  the 
merchant's  wife,  all  dressed  in  her  red  merino,  to  make  a 
visit.  Mrs.  Skinner,  who  did  not  possess  an  unusual  share 


112  A    NEW    HOME, 

of  tact,  walked  gravely  round  to  the  back-door,  and  there 
was  Mrs.  Doubleday  up  to  the  eyes  in  soap-making.  Dire 
was  the  mortification,  and  point-blank  were  the  questions 
as  to  how  the  visiter  came  to  go  round  that  way ;  and  when 
the  warning  couplet  was  produced  in  justification,  we  must 
draw  a  veil  over  what  followed — as  the  novelists  say. 

Sometimes  these  poeticals  came  in  aid  of  poor  Betsey ; 
as  once,  when  on  hearing  a  crash  in  the  little  shanty-kitchen, 
Mrs.  Doubleday  called  in  her  shrillest  tones,  '  Betsey !  what 
on  earth's  the  matter?'  Poor  Betsey,  knowing  what  was 
coming,  answered  in  a  deprecatory  whine,  '  The  cow's 
kicked  over  the  buckwheat  batter !' 

When  the  clear,  hilarious  voice  of  Philo  from  the  yard, 
where  he  was  chopping,  instantly  completed  the  triplet — 

'  Take  up  the  pieces  and  throw  'em  at  her !'  for  once  the 
grim  features  of  his  spouse  relaxed  into  a  smile,  and  Betsey 
escaped  her  scolding. 

Yet,  Mrs.  Doubleday  is  not  without  her  excellent  quali 
ties  as  a  wife,  a  friend,  and  a  neighbor.  She  keeps  her 
husband's  house  and  stockings  in  unexceptionable  trim. 
Her  emptins  are  the  envy  of  the  neighborhood.  Her 
vinegar  is — as  how  should  it  fail? — the  ne  plus  ultra  of 
sharpness ;  and  her  pickles  are  greener  than  the  grass  of  the 
field.  She  will  watch  night  after  night  with  the  sick, 
perform  the  last  sad  offices  for  the  dead,  or  take  to  her 
home  and  heart  the  little  ones  whose  mother  is  removed 
forever  from  her  place  at  the  fireside.  All  this  she  can  do 
cheerfully,  and  she  will  not  repay  herself  as  many  good 
people  do  by  recounting  every  word  of  the  querulous  sick 
man,  or  the  desolate  mourner,  with  added  hints  of  tumbled 
drawers,  closets  all  in  heaps,  or  awful  dirty  kitchens. 

I   was    sitting   one    morning   with   my   neighbor,    Mrs. 


W  HO'LL    FOLLOW?  113 

Jenkins,  who  is  a  sister  of  Mr.  Doubleday,  when  Betsey, 
Mrs.  Doubleday's  'hired  girl,'  came  in  with  one  of  the 
shingles  of  Philo's  handiwork  in  her  hand,  which  bore  in 
Mr.  Doubleday's  well-known  chalk  marks — 

Come  quick,  Fanny! 
And  bring  the  granny, 
For  Mrs.  Double- 
day's  in  trouble. 

And  the  next  intelligence  was  of  a  fine  new  pair  of  lungs 
at  that  hitherto  silent  mansion.  I  called  very  soon  after  to 
take  a  peep  at  the  *  latest  found  ;'  and  if  the  suppressed 
delight  of  the  new  papa  was  a  treat,  how  much  more  was 
the  softened  aspect,  the  womanized  tone  of  the  proud  and 
happy  mother.  I  never  saw  a  being  so  completely  trans 
formed.  She  would  almost  forget  to  answer  me,  in  her 
absorbed  watching  of  the  breath  of  the  little  sleeper. 
Even  when  trying  to  be  polite,  and  to  say  what  the 
occasion  demanded,  her  eyes  would  not  be  withdrawn  from 
the  tiny  face.  Conversation  on  any  subject  but  the  ever- 
new  theme  of  '  babies  '  was  out  of  the  question.  Whatever 
we  began  upon  whirled  round  sooner  or  later  to  the  one 
point.  The  needle  may  tremble,  but  it  turns  not  with  the 
less  constancy  to  the  pole. 

As  I  pass  for  an  oracle  in  the  matter  of  paps  and 
possets,  I  had  frequent  communication  with  my  now  happy 
neighbor,  who  had  forgotten  to  scold  her  husband,  learned 
to  let  Betsey  have  time  to  eat,  and  omitted  the  nightly 
scouring  of  the  floor,  lest  so  much  dampness  might  be  bad 
for  the  baby.  We  were  in  deep  consultation  one  morning 
on  some  important  point  touching  the  well-being  of  this 
sole  object  of  Mrs.  Doubleday's  thoughts  and  dreams, 
when  the  very  same  little  lanthe  Howard,  dirty  as  ever, 
presented  herself.  She  sat  down  and  stared  awhile  with- 
10* 


114  A   NEW    HOME, 

out  speaking,  a  V ordinaire ;  and  then  informed  us  that  her 
mother  '  wanted  Miss  Doubleday  to  let  her  have  her  baby 
for  a  little  while,  'cause  Benny's  mouth 's  so  sore,  that ' 

but  she  had  no  time  to  finish  the  sentence. 

'  LEND  MY  BABY  ! ! !' — and  her  utterance  failed.  The  new 
mother's  feelings  were  fortunately  too  big  for  speech,  and 
lanthe  wisely  disappeared  before  Mrs.  Doubleday  found 
her  tongue.  Philo,  who  entered  on  the  instant,  burst  into 
one  of  his  electrifying  laughs,  with, — 

Ask  my  Polly, 
To  lend  her  dolly! 

— and  I  could  not  help  thinking  that  one  must  come 
*  west '  in  order  to  learn  a  little  of  every  thing. 

The  identical  glass  tube  which  I  offered  Mrs.  Howard, 
as  a  substitute  for  Mrs.  Doubleday's  baby,  and  which  had 
already,  frail  as  it  is,  threaded  the  country  for  miles  in  all 
directions,  is,  even  as  I  write,  in  demand ;  a  man  on  horse 
back  comes  from  somewhere  near  Danforth's,  and  asks  in 

mysterious  whispers  for but  I  shall  not  tell  what  he 

calls  it.     The  reader  must  come  to  Michigan. 


WHO'LL    FOLLOW?  115 


CHAPTER    XIX. 

Le  bonheur  et  le  malheur  des  homines  ne  depend  pas  moins  de  leur  humeur 
que  de  la  fortune 

ROCHEFOUCAULT. 

It  has  been  a  canker  in 
Thy  heart  from  the  beginning:  but  for  this 
We  had  not  felt  our  poverty,  but  as 
Millions  of  myriads  feel  it,— cheerfully  ;— 
****** 

Thou  might'st  have  earn'd  thy  bread  as  thousands  earn  it; 
Or,  if  that  seem  too  humble,  tried  by  commerce, 
Or  other  civic  means,  to  mend  thy  fortunes. 

BYRON — WERNER. 

THE  winter — the  much-dreaded  winter  in  the  woods, 
strange  to  tell,  flew  away  more  rapidly  than  any  previous 
winter  of  my  life.  One  has  so  much  to  do  in  the  country. 
The  division  of  labor  is  almost  unknown.  If  in  absolutely 
savage  life,  each  man  is  of  necessity,  '  his  own  tailor,  tent- 
maker,  carpenter,  cook,  huntsman,  and  fisherman ;' — so  in 
the  state  of  society  which  I  am  attempting  to  describe, 
each  woman  is,  at  times  at  least,  her  own  cook,  chamber 
maid  and  waiter ;  nurse,  seamstress  and  school-ma'am  ;  not 
to  mention  various  occasional  callings  to  any  one  of  which 
she  must  be  able  to  turn  her  hand  at  a  moment's  notice. 
And  every  man,  whatever  his  circumstances  or  resources, 
must  be  qualified  to  play  groom,  teamster,  or  boot-black,  as 
the  case  may  be ;  besides  '  tending  the  baby '  at  odd  times, 
and  cutting  wood  to  cook  his  dinner  with.  If  he  has  good 
sense,  good  nature,  and  a  little  spice  of  practical  philosophy, 


116  A    NEW    HOME, 

all  this  goes  exceedingly  well.  He  will  find  neither  his 
mind  less  cheerful,  nor  his  body  less  vigorous  for  these 
little  sacrifices.  If  he  is  too  proud  or  too  indolent  to 
submit  to  such  infringements  upon  his  dignity  and  ease, 
most  essential  deductions  from  the  daily  comfort  of  his 
family  will  be  the  mortifying  and  vexatious  result  of  his 
obstinate  adherence  to  early  habits. 

We  witnessed  by  accident  so  striking  a  lesson  on  this 
subject,  not  long  after  our  removal  to  Montacute,  that  I 
must  be  allowed  to  record  the  impression  it  made  upon  my 
mind.  A  business  errand  called  Mr.  Clavers  some  miles 
from  home ;  and  having  heard  much  of  the  loveliness  of  the 
scenery  in  that  direction,  I  packed  the  children  into  the 
great  wagon  and  went  with  him. 

The  drive  was  a  charming  one.  The  time,  midsummer, 
and  the  wilderness  literally  '  blossoming  as  the  rose.'  In  a 
tour  of  ten  miles  we  saw  three  lovely  lakes,  each  a  lonely 
gem  set  deep  in  masses  of  emerald  green,  which  shut  it  in 
completely  from  all  but  its  own  bright  beauty.  The  road 
was  a  most  intricate  one  '  tho'rough  bush — thorough  brier,' 
and  the  ascents,  the  '  pitches,'  the  '  sidlings,'  in  some  places 
quite  terrific.  At  one  of  the  latter  points,  where  the  road 
wound,  as  so  many  Michigan  roads  do,  round  the  edge  of  a 
broad  green  marsh ;  I  insisted  on  getting  out,  as  usual. 
The  place  was  quite  damp ;  but  I  thought  I  could  pick  my 
way  over  the  green  spots  better  than  trust  myself  in  the 
wagon,  which  went  along  for  some  rods  at  an  angle  (/  said 
so  at  least)  of  forty-five.  Two  men  were  mowing  on  the 
marsh,  and  seemed  highly  amused  at  my  perplexity,  when 
after  watching  the  receding  vehicle  till  it  ascended  a  steep 
bank  on  the  farther  side,  I  began  my  course.  For  a  few 
steps  I  made  out  tolerably,  but  then  I  began  to  sink  most 


WHO'LL    FO  LLOW?  HY 

inconveniently.  Silly  thin  shoes  again.  Nobody  should 
ever  go  one  mile  from  home  in  thin  shoes  in  this  country, 
but  old  Broadway  habits  are  so  hard  to  forget. 

At  length,  my  case  became  desperate.  One  shoe  had 
provokingly  disappeared.  I  had  stood  on  one  foot  as  long 
as  ever  goose  did,  but  no  trace  of  the  missing  Broqua  could 
I  find,  and  down  went  the  stocking  six  inches  into  the  black 
mud.  I  cried  out  for  help ;  and  the  mowers,  with  '  a  lang 
and  a  loud  guffaw/  came  leisurely  towards  me.  Just  then 
appeared  Mr.  Clavers  on  the  green  slope  above  mentioned. 
It  seems  his  high-mightiness  had  concluded  by  this  time 
that  I  had  been  sufficiently  punished  for  my  folly,  (all 
husbands  are  so  tyrannical !)  and  condescended  to  come  to 
my  rescue.  I  should  have  been  very  sulky;  but  then, 
there  were  the  children.  However,  my  spouse  did  try 
to  find  a  road  which  should  less  frequently  give  rise  to 
those  troublesome  terrors  of  mine.  So  we  drove  on  and 
on,  through  ancient  woods,  which  I  could  not  help  admir 
ing  ;  and,  at  length,  missing  our  way,  we  came  suddenly 
upon  a  log-house,  very  different  from  that  which  was  the 
object  of  our  search.  It  was  embowered  in  oaks  of  the 
largest  size  ;  and  one  glance  told  us  that  the  hand  of  refined 
taste  had  been  there.  The  under-brush  had  been  entirely 
cleared  away,  and  the  broad  expanse  before  the  house 
looked  like  a  smooth-shaven  lawn,  deep-shadowed  by  the 
fine  trees  I  have  mentioned.  Gleams  of  sunset  fell  on  beds 
of  flowers  of  every  hue ;  curtains  of  French  muslin  shaded 
the  narrow  windows,  and  on  a  rustic  seat  near  the  door  lay 
a  Spanish  guitar,  with  its  broad  scarf  of  blue  silk.  I  could 
not  think  of  exhibiting  my  inky  stocking  to  the  inmates  of 
such  a  cottage,  though  I  longed  for  a  peep ;  and  Mr. 


118  ANEW    HOME, 

Clavers  went  alone  to  the  house  to  inquire  the  way,  while 
I  played  tiger  and  held  the  horses. 

I  might  have  remained  undiscovered,  but  for  the  delight 
ed  exclamations  of  the  children,  who  were  in  raptures  with 
the  beautiful  flowers,  and  the  lake  which  shone,  a  silver 
mirror,  immediately  beneath  the  bank  on  which  we  were 
standing.  Their  merry  talk  echoed  through  the  trees,  and 
presently  out  came  a  young  lady  in  a  demi-suisse  costume ; 
her  dark  hair  closely  braided  and  tied  with  ribbons,  and  the 
pockets  of  her  rustic  apron  full  of  mosses  and  wild  flowers. 
With  the  air  rather  of  Paris  than  of  Michigan,  she  insisted 
on  my  alighting  ;  and  though  in  awkward  plight,  I  suffered 
myself  to  be  persuaded.  The  interior  of  the  house  corres 
ponded  in  part  with  the  impressions  I  had  received  from 
my  first  glance  at  the  exterior.  There  was  a  harp  in  a 
recess,  and  the  white- washed  log- walls  "were  hung  with  a 
variety  of  cabinet  pictures.  A  tasteful  drapery  of  French 
chintz  partly  concealed  another  recess,  closely  filled  with 
books  ;  a  fowling-piece  hung  over  the  chimney,  and  before 
a  large  old-fashioned  looking-glass  stood  a  French  pier- 
table,  on  which  were  piled  fossil  specimens,  mosses,  vases 
of  flowers,  books,  pictures,  and  music.  So  far  all  was  well ; 
and  two  young  ladies  seated  on  a  small  sofa  near  the  table, 
with  netting  and  needle-work,  were  in  keeping  with  the 
romantic  side  of  the  picture.  But  there  was  more  than  all 
this. 

The  bare  floor  was  marked  in  every  direction  with  that 
detestable  yellow  dye  which  mars  every  thing  in  this 
country,  although  a  great  box  filled  with  sand  stood  near 
the  hearth,  melancholy  and  fruitless  provision  against  this 
filthy  visitation.  Two  great  dirty  dogs  lay  near  the  rock 
ing-chair,  and  this  rocking-chair  sustained  the  tall  person 


WHO'LL    FOLLOW?  119 

of  the  master  of  the  house,  a  man  of  perhaps  forty  years 
or  thereabouts,  the  lines  of  whose  face  were  such,  as  he 
who  runs  may  read.  Pride  and  passion,  and  reckless  self- 
indulgence  were  there,  and  fierce  discontent  and  determined 
indolence.  An  enormous  pair  of  whiskers,  which  surround 
ed  the  whole  lower  part  of  the  countenance,  afforded 
incessant  employment  for-  the  long  slender  fingers,  which 
showed  no  marks  of  labor,  except  very  dirty  nails.  This 
gentleman  had,  after  all,  something  of  a  high-bred  air,  if 
one  did  not  look  at  the  floor,  and  could  forget  certain 
indications  of  excessive  carelessness  discernible  in  his  dress 
and  person. 

We  had  not  yet  seen  the  lady  of  the  cottage ;  the  young 
girl  who  ushered  me  in  so  politely  was  her  sister,  now  on  a 

summer  visit.  Mrs.  B shortly  after  entered  in  an 

undress,  but  with  a  very  lady-like  grace  of  manner,  and 
the  step  of  a  queen.  Her  face,  which  bore  the  traces  of 
beauty,  struck  me  as  one  of  the  most  melancholy  I  had  ever 
seen  ;  and  it  was  overspread  with  a  sort  of  painful  flush, 
which  did  not  conceal  its  habitual  paleness. 

We  had  been  conversing  but  a  few  moments,  when  a 
shriek  from  the  children  called  every  one  out  of  doors  in  an 

instant.  One  of  Mr.  B 's  sons  had  ventured  too  near 

to  the  horses,  and  received  from  our  'old  Tom/  who  is  a 
little  roguish,  a  kick  on  the  arm.  He  roared  most  lustily, 
and  every  body  was  very  much  frightened,  and  ran  in  all 
directions  seeking  remedies.  I  called  upon  a  boy  who 
seemed  to  be  a  domestic,  to  get  some  salt  and  vinegar,  (for 
he  mother  was  disabled  by  terror)  but  as  he  only  grin 
ned  and  stared  at  me,  I  ran  into  the  kitchen  to  procure  it 
myself.  I  opened  a  closet  door,  but  the  place  seemed 
empty  or  nearly  so  ;  I  sought  every  where  within  ken,  but 


120  A    NEW    HOME, 

all  was  equally  desolate.  I  opened  the  door  of  a  small 
bed -room,  but  I  saw  in  a  moment  that  I  ought  not  to  have 
gone  there,  and  shut  it  again  instantly.  Hopeless  of  find 
ing  what  I  sought,  I  returned  to  the  parlor,  and  there  the 
little  boy  was  holding  a  vinaigrette  to  his  mother's  nose, 
while  the  young  ladies  were  chafing  her  hands.  She  had 
swooned  in  excessive  alarm,  and  the  kick  had,  after  all, 
produced  only  a  trifling  bruise. 

After   Mrs.  B had   recovered   herself   a   little,    she 

entered  at  some  length,  and  with  a  good  deal  of  animation, 
on  a  detail  of  her  Michigan  experiences!  not,  as  I  had 
hoped  at  the  beginning, — 

In  equal  scale  weighing  delight  and  dole; 

But  giving  so  depressing  a  view  of  the  difficulties  of  the 
country,  that  I  felt  almost  disposed  for  the  moment  to 
regret  my  determination  of  trying  a  woodland  life.  She 
had  found  all  barren.  They  had  no  neighbors,  or  worse 
than  none — could  get  no  domestics — found  every  one  dis 
posed  to  deal  unfairly,  in  all  possible  transactions ;  and 
though  last,  not  least,  could  get  nothing  fit  to  eat 

Mr.  B — 's  account,  though  given  with  a  careless,  off-hand 
air,  had  a  strong  dash  of  bitterness  in  it — a  sort  of  fierce  defi 
ance  of  earth  and  heaven,  which  is  apt  to  be  the  resource 
of  those  who  have  wilfully  thrown  away  their  chances  of 
happiness.  His  remarks  upon  the  disagreeables  which  we 
had  to  encounter,  were  carried  at  least  as  far  as  those  of 
his  wife,  and  he  asserted  that  there  was  but  one  alternative 
in  Michigan — cheat  or  be  cheated. 

We  were  not  invited  to  remain  to  tea;  but  took  our 
leave  with  many  polite  hopes  of  further  acquaintance.  Mr. 
Clavers  found  the  spot  he  had  been  seeking,  and  then, 
taking  another  road  home,  we  called  to  see  Mrs.  Danforth ; 


WHO'LL     FOLLOW?  121 

whom  we  considered  even  then  in  the  light  of  the  very 
good  friend  which  she  has  since  so  often  proved  herself.  I 
told  of  our  accidental  visit  and  learned  from  the  good  lacty 
some  particulars  respecting  this  family,  whose  condition 
seemed  so  strange  and  contradictory,  even  in  the  western 
country,  where  every  element  enters  into  the  composition 
of  that  anomalous  mass  called  society. 

Mr.  B was  born  to  a  large  fortune,  a  lot  which 

certainly  seems  in  our  country  to  carry  a  curse  with  it  in  a 
large  proportion  of  instances.  Feeling  quite  above  the 
laborious  calling  by  which  his  father  had  amassed  wealth, 
the  son's  only  aim  had  been  to  spend  his  money,  like  a 
gentleman ;  and  in  this  he  had  succeeded  so  well  that  by 
the  time  he  had  established  himself,  at  the  head  of  the  ton 
in  one  of  our  great  Eastern  cities,  and  been  set  down  as  an 
irreclaimable  roue  by  his  sober  friends,  he  found  that  a  few 
more  losses  at  play  would  leave  him  stranded.  But  he  had 
been  quite  the  idol  of  the  '  good  society '  into  which  he  had 
purchased  admission,  and  the  one  never-failing  resource  in 
such  cases — a  rich  wife — was  still  perhaps  in  his  power. 
Before  his  altered  fortunes  were  more  than  whispered  by 
his  very  particular  friends,  he  had  secured  the  hand  of  an 
orphan  heiress,  a  really  amiable  and  well-bred  girl ;  and  it 
was  not  until  she  had  been  his  wife  for  a  year  or  more, 
that  she  knew  that  her  thousands  had  done  no  more  than 
prop  a  falling  house. 

Many  efforts  were  made  by  the  friends  on  both  sides,  to 

aid  Mr.  B in  establishing  himself  in  business,  but  his 

pride  and  his  indolence  proved  insuperable  difficulties ;  and 
after  some  years  of  those  painful  struggles  between  pride 
and  poverty,  which  so  many  of  the  devotees  of  fashion  can 
11 


122  A    NEW    HOME, 

appreciate  from  their  own  bitter  experience,  a  retreat  to  the 
West  was  chosen  as  the  least  of  prospective  evils. 

Here  the  whole  country  was  before  him  '  where  to 
choose.'  He  could  have  bought  at  government  price  any 
land  in  the  region  to  which  he  had  directed  his  steps. 
Water-power  of  all  capabilities  was  at  his  command,  for 
there  was  scarce  a  settler  in  the  neighborhood.  But  he 
scorned  the  idea  of  a  place  for  business.  What  he  wanted 
was  a  charming  spot  for  a  gentlemanly  residence.  There, 
with  his  gun  and  his  fishing  rod,  he  was  to  live ;  a  small 
income  which  still  remained  of  his  wife's  fortune  furnishing 
the  only  dependence. 

And  this  income,  small  as  it  was,  would  have  been,  in 
prudent  and  industrious  hands,  a  subsistence  at  least ;  so 
small  is  the  amount  really  requisite  for  a  frugal  way  of  life 

in  these  isolated  situations.  But  unfortunately  Mr.  B 's 

character  had  by  no  means  changed  with  his  place  of 
residence.  His  land,  which  by  cultivation  would  have 
yielded  abundant  supplies  for  his  table,  was  suffered  to  lie 
unimproved,  because  he  had  not  money  to  pay  laborers. 
Even  a  garden  was  too  much  trouble ;  the  flower-beds  I 

had  seen  were  made  by  the  hands  of  Mrs.  B and  her 

sisters ;  and  it  was  asserted  that  the  comforts  of  life  were 
often  lacking  in  this  unfortunate  household,  and  would  have 
been  always  deficient  but  for  constant  aid  from  Mrs. 
B 's  friends. 

Mrs.  B had  done  as  women  so  often  do  in  similar 

situations,  making  always  a  great  effort  to  keep  up  a  certain 
appearance,  and  allowing  her  neighbors  to  discover  that  she 
considered  them  far  beneath  her;  she  had  not  forgotten 
her  delicate  habits,  and  that  they  were  delicate  and  lady 
like,  no  one  can  doubt  who  had  ever  seen  her,  and 


WHO'LL    FOLLOW?  123 

labored  with  all  her  little  strength  for  the  comfort  of  her 
family.  She  had  brought  up  five  children  on  little  else 
beside  Indian  meal  and  potatoes ;  and  at  one  time  the 
neighbors  had  known  the  whole  family  live  for  weeks  upon 

bread  and  tea  without  sugar  or  milk ; — Mr.  B sitting 

in  the  house  smoking  cigars,  and  playing  the  flute,  as  much 
of  a  gentleman  as  ever. 

And  these  people,  bringing  with  them  such  views  and 
feelings  as  make  straitened  means  productive  of  absolute 
wretchedness  any  where,  abuse  Michigan,  and  visit  upon 
their  homely  neighbors  the  bitter  feelings  which  spring 
from  that  fountain  of  gall,  mortified  yet  indomitable  pride. 
Finding  themselves  growing  poorer  and  poorer,  they 
persuade  themselves  that  all  who  thrive,  do  so  by  dishonest 
gains,  or  by  mean  sacrifices ;  and  they  are  teaching  their 
children,  by  the  irresistible  power  of  daily  example,  to 
despise  plodding  industry,  and  to  indulge  in  repining  and 
feverish  longings  after  unearned  enjoyments. 

But  I  am  running  into  an  absolute  homily  !  I  set  out  to 
say  only  that  we  had  been  warned  at  the  beginning  against 
indulging  in  certain  habits  which  darken  the  whole  course 
of  country  life ;  and  here  I  have  been  betrayed  into  a 
chapter  of  sermonizing.  I  can  only  beg  pardon  and 
resume  my  broken  thread. 


124  A    NEW    HOME, 


CHAPTER    XX. 

I  come,  I  come!  ye  have  called  me  long, 
I  come  o'er  the  mountains  with  light  and  song! 
Away  from  the  chamber  and  sullen  hearth ! 
The  young  leaves  are  dancing  in  breezy  mirth. 

MRS.  HEMANS — Voice  of  Spring. 

And  because  the  breath  of  flowers  is  far  sweeter  in  the  air  (where  it  comes 
and  goes  like  the  warbling  of  music,)  therefore  nothing  is  more  fit  for  that 
delight  than  to  know  what  be  the  flowers  and  plants  that  do  best  perfume  the 
air. 

BACON. 

I  BELIEVE  I  was  recurring  to  the  rapidity  with  which 
our  first  winter  in  the  wilds  slipped  away.  We  found  that 
when  the  spring  came  we  were  not  half  prepared  to  take 
advantage  of  it ;  but  armed  with  the  '  American  Gardener/ 
and  quantities  of  choice  seeds  received  in  a  box  of  treasures 
from  home  during  the  previous  Autumn,  we.  set  about 
making  something  like  a  garden.  It  would  seem  that  in 
our  generous  soil  this  would  not  be  a  difficult  task ;  but 
our  experience  has  taught  us  quite  differently.  Besides 
the  eradication  of  stumps,  which  is  a  work  of  time  and 
labor  any  where,  the  '  grubs '  present  a  most  formidable 
hindrance  to  all  gardening  efforts  in  the  '  oak-openings.'  I 
dare  say  my  reader  imagines  a  '  grub '  to  be  a  worm,  a 
destructive  wretch  that  spoils  peach  trees.  In  Michigan,  it 
is  quite  another  affair.  Grubs  are,  in  Western  parlance,  the 
gnarled  roots  of  small  trees  and  shrubs,  with  which  our  soil 
is  interlaced  in  some  places  almost  to  absolute  solidity. 
When  these  are  disturbed  by  the  immense  '  breaking  up ' 


WHO'LL    FOLLOW?  125 

plough,  with  its  three  or  four  yoke  of  oxen,  the  surface  of 
the  ground  wears  every  where  the  appearance  of  chevaux- 
de-frize  ;  and  to  pile  in  heaps  for  burning  such  of  these 
serried  files  as  have  been  fairly  loosened  by  the  plough,  is 
a  Avork  of  much  time  and  labor.  And  after  this  is  done  in 
the  best  way,  your  potagerie  will  still  seem  to  be  full  of 
grubs ;  and  it  will  take  two  or  three  years  to  get  rid  of 
these  troublesome  proofs  of  the  fertility  of  your  soil.  But 
your  incipient  Eden  will  afford  much  of  interest  and  com 
fort  before  this  work  is  accomplished,  and  I  sincerely  pity 
those  who  lack  a  taste  for  this  primitive  source  of  pleasure. 

On  the  opening  of  our  first  spring,  the  snow  had  scarcely 
disappeared  ere  the  green  tops  of  my  early  bulbs  were 
peeping  above  the  black  soil  in  which  they  had  been  buried 
on  our  first  arrival ;  and  the  interest  with  which  I  watched 
each  day's  development  of  these  lovely  children  of  the  sun, 
might  almost  compare  with  that  which  I  felt  in  the  daily 
increasing  perfections  of  my  six-months-old  Charlie,  whose 
rosy  cheeks  alone  could,  in  my  view  at  least,  outblush  my 
splendid  double  hyacinths. 

Whatever  of  a  perennial  kind  we  could  procure,  we 
planted  at  once,  without  waiting  until  our  garden  should 
be  permanently  arranged.  All  that  we  have  since  regret 
ted  on  this  point  is,  that  we  had  not  made  far  greater 
efforts  to  increase  our  variety ;  since  one  year's  time  is  well 
worth  gaining,  where  such  valuables  are  in  question. 

On  the  subject  of  flowers,  I  scarcely  dare  trust  my  pen 
with  a  word,  so  sure  am  I  that  my  enthusiastic  love  for 
them  would,  to  most  readers,  seem  absolutely  silly  or 
affected.  But  where  the  earth  produces  spontaneously 
such  myriads  of  splendid  specimens,  it  would  seem  really 
ungrateful  to  spare  the  little  time  and  pains  required  for 
11* 


126  A    NEW    HOME, 

their  cultivation.  This  is  a  sin  which  I  at  least  shall  avoid ; 
and  I  lose  no  opportunity  of  attempting  to  inspire  my 
neighbors  with  some  small  portion  of  my  love  for  everything 
which  can  be  called  a  flower,  whether  exotic  or  home-bred. 

The  ordinary  name  with  us  for  a  rose  is  '  a  rosy-flower  ;' 
our  vase  of  flowers,  usually  a  broken-nosed  pitcher,  is  a 
'  posy-pot ;'  and  '  yaller  lilies'  are  among  the  most  dearly- 
prized  of  all  the  gifts  of  Flora.  A  neighbor  after  looking 
approvingly  at  a  glass  of  splendid  tulips,  of  which  I  was 
vain-glorious  beyond  all  justification,  asked  me  if  I  got 
1  them  blossoms  out  of  these  here  woods.'  Another  coolly 
broke  off  a  spike  of  my  finest  hyachinths,  and  after  putting 
it  to  his  undiscriminaiing  nose,  threw  it  on  the  ground  with 
a  '  pagh  ! '  as  contemptuous  as  Hamlet's.  But  I  revenged 
myself  when  I  set  him  sniffing  at  a  crown  imperial — so  we 
are  at  quits  now. 

A  lady  to  whom  I  offered  a  cutting  of  my  noble  balm 
geranium,  with  leaves  larger  than  Charlie's  hand,  declined 
the  gift,  saying,  'she  never  know'd  nobody  make  nothin' 
by  raisin'  sich  things.'  One  might  have  enlightened  her 
a  little  as  to  their  moneyed  value,  but  I  held  my  peace 
and  gave  her  some  sage-seed. 

Yet,  oddly  enough — if  any  thing  could  be  odd  in  Michi 
gan — there  is,  within  three  miles  of  us,  a  gardener  and 
florist  of  no  mean  rank,  and  one  whose  aid  can  be  obtained 
at  any  time  for  some  small  consideration  of  'rascal  coun 
ters  ;'  so  that  a  hot-bed,  or  even  a  green-house  is  within 
our  reach. 

I  have  sometimes  thought  that  there  could  scarcely  be 
a  trade  or  profession  which  is  not  largely  represented 
among  the  farmers  of  Michigan,  judging  from  the  some 
what  extensive  portion  of  the  State  with  which  we  have 


WHO'LL    FOLLOW?  12*7 

become  familiar.  I  was  regretting  the  necessity  of  a  jour 
ney  to  Detroit  for  the  sake  of  a  gold  filling  ;  when  lo !  a 
dentist  at  my  elbow,  with  his  case  of  instruments,  his 
gold  foil,  and  his  skill,  all  very  much  at  my  service. 

Montacute,  half-fledged  as  it  is,  affords  facilities  that 
one  could  scarce  expect.  Besides  the  blacksmith,  the 
cooper,  the  chair  maker,  the  collar  maker,  and  sundry 
carpenters  and  masons,  and  three  stores,  there  is  the 
mautua-maker  for  your  dresses,  the  milliner  for  your  bon- 
ets,  (not  mine)  the  'hen  tailor,'  for  your  little  boy's  pan 
taloons  ;  the  plain  seamstress,  plain  enough  sometimes, 
for  all  the  sewing  you  can't  possibly  get  time  for,  and 

'The  spinners,  and  the  knitters  in  the  sun,' 

or  in  the  chimney-corner,  for  all  your  needs  in  the  winter 
hosiery  line.  Is  one  of  your  guests  dependent  upon  a 
barber  ?  Mr.  Jenkins  can  shave.  Does  your  husband  get 
too  shaggy?  Mr.  Jenkins  cuts  hair.  Does  he  demolish 
his  boot  upon  a  grub?  Mr.  Jenkins  is  great  at  rifaccia- 
mento.  Does  Billy  lose  his  cap  in  the  pond  ?  Mr.  Jenkins 
makes  caps  comme  il  y  en  a  pen.  Does  your  bellows  get 
the  asthma  ?  Mr.  Jenkins  is  a  famous  Francis  Flute.  Then 
there  is  Philemon  Greenly  has  been  apprenticed  to  a  baker, 
and  he  can  make  you  crackers,  baker's  bread  and  round- 
hearts,  the  like  of  which  ,  but  you  should  get  his 

story.  And  /  can  certainly  make  long  digressions,  if 
nothing  else.  Here  I  am  wandering  like  another  Eve  from 
my  dearly  beloved  garden. 

A  bed  of  asparagus — I  mean  a  dozen  of  them — should 
be  among  the  very  first  cares  of  spring;  for  you  must 
recollect  as  did  the  Cardinal  De  Retz  at  Vincennes,  that 
asparagus  takes  three  years  to  come  to  the  beginnings  of 
perfection.  Ours,  seeded  down  after  the  Shaker  fashion, 


128  A    NEW    HOME, 

promise  to  be  invaluable.  They  grew  so  nobly  the  first 
year  that  the  haulm  was  almost  worth  mowing,  like  the 
fondly-prized  down  on  the  chin  of  sixteen.  Then,  what 
majestic  palmleaf  rhubarb,  and  what  egg-plants  !  Nobody 
can  deny  that  our  soil  amply  repays  whatever  trouble  we 
may  bestow  upon  it.  Even  on  the  first  turning  up,  it 
furnishes  you  with  all  the  humbler  luxuries  in  the  vege 
table  way,  from  the  earliest  pea  to  the  most  delicate 
cauliflower,  and  the  golden  pumpkin,  larger  than  Cinde 
rella's  grandmother  ever  saw  in  her  dreams.  Enrich  it 
properly,  and  you  need  lack  nothing  that  will  grow  north 
of  Charleston. 

Melons,  which  attain  a  delicious  perfection  in  our  rich 
sandy  loam,  are  no  despicable  substitute  for  the  peaches  of 
the  older  world  ;  at  least  during  the  six  or  seven  summers 
that  must  elapse  before  the  latter  can  be  abundant.  I 
advise  a  prodigious  melon -patch. 

A  fruit,  sometimes  despised  elsewhere,  is  here  among 
the  highly-prized  treasures  of  the  summer.  The  whortle 
berry  of  Michigan  is  a  different  affair  from  the  little  half- 
starved  thing  which  bears  the  name  elsewhere.  It  is  of  a 
deep  rich  blue,  something  near  the  size  of  a  rifle  bullet,  and 
of  a  delicious  sweetness.  The  Indians  bring  in  immense 
quantities  slung  in  panniers  or  mococks  of  bark  on  the  sides 
of  their  wild-looking  ponies ;  a  squaw,  with  any  quantity  of 
pappooses,  usually  riding  V  espagnole  on  the  ridge  between 
them. 

'  Schwap  ?  Nappanee  ?'  is  the  question  of  the  queen  of 
the  forest ;  which  means,  '  will  you  exchange,  or  swap,  for 
flour :'  and  you  take  the  whortleberries  in  whatever  vessel 
you  choose,  returning  the  same  measured  quantity  of  flour. 

The  spirit  in  which  the  Indians  buy  and  sell  is  much  the 


WHO'LL    FOLLOW?  129 

same  now  as  in  the  days  of  the  renowned  Wouter  Van 
T wilier,  when  'the  hand  of  a  Dutchman  weighed  a  pound, 
and  his  foot  two  pounds.'  The  largest  haunch  of  venison 
goes  for  two  fingers,  viz.,  twenty-five  cents,  and  an  entire 
deer  for  one  hand,  one  dollar.  Wild  strawberries  of  rare 
size  and  flavor,  'schwap-nappanee,'  which  always  means 
equal  quantities.  A  pony,  whatever  be  his  age  or  qualities, 
two  hands  held  up  twice,  with  the  fingers  extended,  twenty 
dollars.  If  you  add  to  the  price  an  old  garment,  or  a 
blanket,  or  a  string  of  glass  beads,  the  treasure  is  at  once 
put  on  and  worn  with  such  an  air  of  '  look  at  me !'  Broad 
way  could  hardly  exceed  it. 

The  Indians  bring  in  cranberries  too;  and  here  again 
Michigan  excels.  The  wild  plum,  so  little  prized  else 
where,  is  valued  where  its  civilized  namesake  is  unattain 
able;  and  the  assertion  frequently  made,  that  'it  makes 
excellent  saase,'  is  undeniably  true.  But  grapes !  One 
must  see  the  loads  of  grapes  in  order  to  believe. 

The  practical  conclusion  I  wish  to  draw  from  all  this 
wandering  talk  is,  that  it  is  well  worth  while  to  make  a 
garden  in  Michigan.  I  hope  my  reader  will  not  be 
disposed  to  reply  in  that  terse  and  forceful  style  which  is 
cultivated  at  Montacute,  and  which  has  more  than  once 
been  employed  in  answer  to  my  enthusiastic  lectures  on 
this  subject :  '  Taters  grows  in  the  field,  and  taters  is  good 
enough  for  me.' 


130  A    NEW    HOME, 


CHAPTER    XXI. 

Les  hommes  ne  vivrassent  pas  long-terns  en  soctete,  s'ils  n'etaient  pas  les 
dupes  les  uns  des  autres. 

LA   ROCHEFOUCAULT. 

I  HAVE  not  said  a  single  word  as  yet  of  our  neighbor 
Tinkerville ;  a  village  whose  rising  fortunes  have  given 
occasion  for  more  discussion  in  the  select  circles  of  Monta- 
cute  than  any  thing  but  the  plan  of  the  new  school-house. 
I  know  this  rambling  gossipping  style,  this  going  back  to 
take  up  dropped  stitches,  is  not  the  orthodox  way  of 
telling  one's  story  ;  and  if  I  thought  I  could  do  any  better, 
I  would  certainly  go  back  and  begin  at  the  very  beginning ; 
bat  I  feel  conscious  that  the  truly  feminine  sin  of  talking 
'about  it  and  about  it,'  the  unconquerable  partiality  for 
wandering  wordiness  would  cleave  to  me  still ;  so  I  proceed 
in  despair  of  improvement  to  touch  upon  such  points  in  the 
history  of  Tinkerville  as  have  seemed  of  vital  and  absorbing 
interest  to  the  citizens  of  Montacute. 

Tinkerville  was  originally  one  of  the  many  speculations 
of  the  enterprizing  Mr.  Hazard,  and  it  differed  from  most 
of  his  landed  property,  in  having  been  purchased  at  second 
hand.  This  fact  was  often  mentioned  in  his  proffers  of 
sale,  as  a  reason  why  the  tract  could  not  be  afforded  quite 
so  low  as  was  his  general  practice.  He  omitted  to  state, 
that  he  bought  of  a  person  who,  having  purchased  at  the 
land-office  without  viewing,  was  so  entirely  discouraged 
when  he  saw  the  woody  swamp  in  which  he  was  to  pitch 


WHO'LL    FOL  LOW?  131 

his  tent,  that  he  was  glad  to  sell  out  to  our  speculator  at  a 
large  discount,  and  try  elsewhere  on  the  old  and  sound 
principle  of  '  look  before  you  leap.'  The  tract  contained, 
as  Mr.  Hazard's  advertisement  fairly  set  forth,  '  almost 
every  variety  of  land ;'  and,  as  he  did  not  say  which  kind 
predominated,  nobody  could  complain  if  imagination  played 
tricks,  as  is  sometimes  the  case  in  land  purchases. 

An  old  gentleman  of  some  property  in  Massachusetts 
became  the  fortunate  owner  of  the  emblazoned  chart, 
which  Mr.  Hazard  had  caused  to  set  forth  the  advantages 
of  his  choice  location.  There  were  canals  and  railroads, 
with  boats  and  cars  at  full  speed.  There  was  a  steam-mill, 
a  wind-mill  or  two — for  even  a  landshark  did  not  dare  to 
put  a  stream  where  there  was  scarce  running  water  for  the 
cattle — a  state  road,  which  had  at  least  been  talked  of,  and 
a  court-house  and  other  county  buildings,  '  all  very  grand ;' 
for,  as  the  spot  was  not  more  than  ten  miles  from  the 
centre  of  the  county,  it  might  some  day  become  the 
county-seat.  Besides  all  this,  there  was  a  large  and 
elegantly  decorated  space  for  the  name  of  the  happy 
purchaser,  if  he  chose  thus  to  dignify  his  future  capital. 

Mr.  Tinker  was  easily  persuaded  that  the  cherished 
surname  of  his  ancestors  would  blend  most  musically  with 
the  modern  and  very  genteel  termination  in  which  so  many 
of  our  western  villages  glory ;  so  Tinkerville  was  appointed 
to  fill  the  trump  of  fame  and  the  blank  on  the  chart ;  and 
Mr.  Hazard,  furnished  with  full  powers,  took  out  the 
charter,  staked  out  the  streets,  where  he  could  get  at 
them,  and  peddled  out  the  lots,  and  laid  out  the  money,  all 
very  much  to  his  own  satisfaction ;  Mr.  Tinker  rejoicing 
that  he  had  happened  to  obtain  so  '  enterprising '  an  agent. 

We  are  riot  informed  what  were  the  internal  sensations 


132  A    NEW    HOME, 

of  the  lot-holders,  when  they  brought  their  families,  and 
came  to  take  possession  of  their  various  '  stands  for 
business.'  They  were  wise  men  ;  and  having  no  money  to 
carry  them  back,  they  set  about  making  the  best  of  what 
they  could  find.  And  it  is  to  be  doubted  whether  Mr. 
Hazard's  multifarious  avocations  permitted  him  to  visit 
Tinkerville  after  the  settlers  began  to  come  in.  Many  of 
them  expressed  themselves  quite  satisfied  that  there  was 
abundance  of  water  there  to  duck  a  landshark,  if  they 
could  catch  him  near  it ;  and  Mr.  Hazard  was  a  wise  man 
too. 

While  the  little  settlement  was  gradually  increasing,  and 
a  store  had  been,  as  we  were  told,  added  to  its  many 
advantages  and  attractions,  we  heard  that  the  padroon  of 
Tinkerville  had  sold  out ;  but  whether  from  the  fear  that 
the  income  from  his  Michigan  property  would  scarce 
become  tangible  before  his  great  grandson's  time,  or 
whether  some  Bangor  Mr.  Hazard  had  offered  him  a 
tempting  bargain  nearer  home,  remains  to  us  unknown.  It 
was  enough  for  Montacute  to  discover  that  the  new  owners 
were  '  enterprising  men.'  This  put  us  all  upon  the  alert. 

The  Tinkervillians,  who  were  obliged  to  come  to  us  for 
grinding  until  their  windmills  could  be  erected,  talked 
much  of  a  new  hotel,  a  school- house,  and  a  tannery ;  all  of 
which,  they  averred,  were  '  going  up  '  immediately.  They 
turned  up  their  noses  at  our  squint-eyed  '  Montacute 
house,'  expressing  themselves  certain  of  getting  the  county 
honors,  and  ended  by  trying  to  entice  away  our  blacksmith. 
But  our  Hr.  Porter,  who  '  had  a  soul  above  buttons/ 
scorned  their  arts,  and  would  none  of  their  counsel.  Hr. 
Simeon  Jenkins  did,  I  fear,  favorably  incline  to  their  side ; 
but  on  its  being  whispered  to  him  that  Hontacute  had 


WHO'LL    FOLLOW?  133 

determined  upon  employing  a  singing-master  next  winter, 
he  informed  the  ambassadors,  who  were  no  doubt  spies  in 
disguise,  that  he  would  never  be  so  selfish  as  to  prefer  his 
own  interest  to  the  public  good.  No  one  thought  of 
analyzing  so  patriotic  a  sentiment,  or  it  might  have  been 
doubted  whether  Mr.  Jenkins  sacrificed  much  in  remaining 
to  exercise  his  many  trades,  where  there  was  twice  as  many 
people  to  profit  by  them  as  he  would  find  at  Tinkerville. 

12 


134  A    NEW    HOME, 


CHAPTER  XXII. 

Ignorance  lies  at  the  bottom  of  all  human  knowledge,  and  the  deeper  we 
penetrate,  the  nearer  we  arrive  unto  it. 

LACON. 

MRS.  RIVERS  and  I  had  long  been  planning  a  ride  on 
horseback  ;  and  when  the  good  stars  were  in  conjunction,  so 
that  two  horses  and  two  saddles  were  to  be  had  at  one  time, 
we  determined  to  wend  our  resolute  way  as  far  as  Tinkerville, 
to  judge  for  ourselves  of  the  state  of  the  enemy's  prepara 
tions.  We  set  out  soon  after  breakfast,  in  high  style ;  my 
Eclipse  being  Mr.  Jenkins's  old  Governor,  seventeen  last 
grass ;  and  my  fair  companion's  a  twenty-dollar  Indian 
pony,  age  undecided — men's  saddles  of  course,  for  the 
settlement  boasts  no  other  as  yet ;  and,  by  way  of  luxury, 
a  large  long-wooled  sheepskin  strapped  over  each. 

We  jogged  on  charmingly,  now  through  woods  cool  and 
moist  as  the  grotto  of  Undine,  and  carpeted  every  where 
with  strawberry  vines  and  thousands  of  flowers ;  now 
across  strips  of  open  land  where  you  could  look  through 
the  straight-stemmed  and  scattered  groves  for  miles  on 
each  side.  A  marsh  or  two  were  to  be  passed,  so  said  our 
most  minute  directions,  and  then  we  should  come  to  the 
trail  through  deep  woods,  which  would  lead  us  in  a  short 
time  to  the  emerging  glories  of  our  boastful  neighbors. 

We  found  the  marshes,  without  difficulty,  and  soon  . 
afterwards  the  trail,  and  D'Orsay's  joyous  bark,  as  he  ran 


WHO'LL    FOLLOW?  135 

far  before  us,  told  that  he  had  made  some  discovery. 
'  Deer,  perhaps/  said  I.  It  was  only  an  Indian,  and  when 
I  stopped  and  tried  to  inquire  whether  we  were  in  the  right 
track,  he  could  not  be  made  to  understand,  but  made  the 
usual  assenting  grunt  and  passed  on. 

When  I  turned  to  speak  to  my  companion  she  was  so 
ashy  pale  that  I  feared  she  must  fall  from  her  horse. 

'  What  is  the  matter,  my  dearest  madam  !'  said  I,  going 
as  near  as  I  could  coax  old  Governor. 

'  The  Indian  !  the  Indian  !'  was  all  she  could  utter.  I 
was  terribly  puzzled.  It  had  never  occurred  to  me  that 
the  Indians  would  naturally  be  objects  of  terror  to  a  young 
lady  who  had  scarcely  ever  seen  one  ;  and  I  knew  we 
should  probably  meet  dozens  of  them  in  the  course  of  our 
short  ride. 

I  said  all  I  could,  and  she  tried  her  best  to  seem  coura 
geous,  and,  after  she  had  rallied  her  spirits  a  little,  we 
proceeded,  thinking  the  end  of  our  journey  could  not 
be  distant,  especially  as  we  saw  several  log-houses  at 
intervals  which  we  supposed  were  the  outskirts  of  Tink- 
erville. 

But  we  were  disappointed  in  this;  for  the  road  led 
through  a  marsh,  and  then  through  woods  again,  and  such 
tangled  woods,  that  I  began  to  fear,  in  my  secret  soul,  that 
we  had  wandered  far  from  our  track,  betrayed  by  D'Orsay's 
frolics. 

I  was  at  length  constrained  to  hint  to  my  pale  companion 
my  misgivings,  and  to  propose  a  return  to  the  nearest  log 
hut  for  information.  Without  a  word  she  wheeled  her 
shaggy  pony,  and,  in  a  few  minutes,  we  found  ourselves  at 
the  bars  belonging  to  the  last  log-house  we  had  passed. 


136  A    NEW    HOME, 

A  wretched  looking  woman  was  washing  at  the  door. 

*  Can  you  tell  us  which  is  the  road  to  Tinkerville  ?' 

'  Well,  I  guess  you  can't  miss  it  if  you  follow  your  own 

tracks.     It  a'n't  long  since  you  came  through  it.     That  big 

stump  is  the  middle  of  the  public  square.* 


WHO'LL     FOLLOW?  137 


CHAPTER    XXIII. 

I  boast  no  song  in  magic  numbers  rife, 

But  yet,  oh  nature !  is  there  nought  to  prize 

Familiar  in  thy  bosom  scenes  of  life  ? 

And  dwells  in  day-light  truth's  salubrious  skies 

No  form  with  which  the  soul  may  sympathize? 

CAMPBELL. 

WE  returned  by  a  different  and  less  lonely  route,  the 
Tinkervillians  having  very  civilly  directed  us  to  one  on 
which  we  should  not  at  any  point  be  far  distant  from  a 
dwelling.  The  single  Indian  we  had  encountered  in  the 
morning  had  been  quite  sufficient  to  spoil  Mrs.  Rivers's 
ride  ;  and  we  hurried  on  at  the  best  pace  of  our  sober 
steeds. 

The  country  through  which  we  were  passing  was  so 
really  lovely  that  even  my  timid  little  friend  forgot  her 
fears  at  times  and  exclaimed  like  a  very  enthusiast.  At 
least  two  small  lakes  lay  near  our  way  ;  and  these,  of  wind 
ing  outline  and  most  dazzling  brightness,  seemed,  as  we 
espied  them  now  and  then  through  the  arched  vistas  of  the 
deep  woods,  multiplied  to  a  dozen  or  more.  We  saw 
grape-vines  which  had  so  embraced  large  trees  that  the 
long  waving  pennons  flared  over  their  very  tops  ;  while  the 
lower  branches  of  the  sturdy  oaks  were  one  undistinguish- 
able  mass  of  light-green  foliage  without  an  inch  of  bark  to 
be  seen.  The  roadside  was  piled  like  an  exaggerated  velvet, 
with  exquisitely  beautiful  ferns  of  almost  every  variety ; 
and  some  open  spots  gleamed  scarlet  with  those  wild  strnw- 
12* 


138  A    NEW   HOME, 

berries  so  abundant  with  us,  and  which  might  challenge 
the  world  for  flavor. 

Birds  of  every  variety  of  song  and  hue  were  not  wenting, 
nor  the  lively  squirrel,  that  most  joyous  of  nature's  pen 
sioners  ;  and  it  cost  us  some  little  care  to  keep  D'Orsay  in 
his  post  of  honor  as  sole  escort  through  these  lonely  passes. 
But  alack  !  '  't  was  ever  thus  !'  We  had  scarcely  sauntered 
two  miles  when  a  scattered  drop  or  two  foretold  that  we 
were  probably  to  try  the  melting  mood.  We  had  not 
noticed  a  cloud,  but  thus  warned  we  saw  portentous  gath 
erings  of  these  bugbears  of  life. 

Now  if  our  ponies  would  only  have  gone  a  little  faster ! 
But  they  would  not,  so  we  were  wet  to  the  skin — travelling 
jets  d'  eau — looking  doubtless  very  much  like  the  western 
settler  taking  his  stirrup-cup,  in  one  of  Mrs.  Trollope's  true 
pictures. 

When  we  could  be  no  farther  soaked  we  reached  a  farm 
house — not  a  Michigan  farm-house,  but  a  great,  noble, 
yankee  'palace  of  pine-boards/  looking  like  a  cantle  of 
Massachusetts  or  Western  New  York  dropped,  par  hazard, 
in  these  remote  wilds.  To  me,  who  had  for  a  long  while 
seen  nothing  of  dwelling  kind  larger  than  a  good  sized 
chicken-coop,  the  scene  was  quite  one  of  Eastern  enchant 
ment.  A  large  barn  with  shed  and  stables,  and  poultry- 
yard  and  all !  Fields  of  grain,  well  fenced  and  stumpless, 
surrounded  this  happy  dwelling  ;  and  a  most  inviting  door- 
yard,  filled  to  profusion  with  shrubs  and  flowers,  seemed  to 
invite  our  entrance. 

'  A  honey-suckle !  absolutely  a  honey-suckle  on  the 
porch  !'  Mrs.  Rivers  was  almost  too  forlorn  to  sympathize 
•with  me ;  but  then  she  had  not  been  quite  so  long  from 


"Now  if  our  ponies  •would  only  have  gone  a  little  faster!     But 
r.hey  -would  not  ;  so  -we  •were  wet  to  the  skin — travelling  jets  d'eau. " 

p.  138 


WHO'LL    FOLLOW?  139 

home.  I  have  been  troubled  with  a  sort  of  home  calenture 
at  times  since  we  removed  westward. 

As  we  were  about  to  dismount,  the  sun  shone  out  most 
provokingly  :  and  I  was  afraid  there  would  be  scarce  the 
shadow  of  an  excuse  for  a  visit  to  the  interesting  inmates, 
for  such  I  had  decided  they  must  be,  of  this  delicious  home 
like  spot ;  but,  as  we  wavered,  a  young  man,  as  wet  as 
ourselves,  came  up  the  road,  and,  opening  the  gate  at  once, 
invited  us  to  enter  and  dry  our  dripping  garments. 

We  stayed  not  for  urging,  but  turned  our  graceless  steeds 
into  the  shady  lane,  and  dismounting,  not  at  the  front 
entrance,  but,  A  la  Michigan,  at  the  kitchen  door,  we  were 
received  with  much  grave  but  cordial  politeness  by  the 
comely  mistress  of  the  mansion,  who  was  sharing  with  her 
pretty  daughter  the  after-dinner  cares  of  the  day.  Our 
upper  garments  were  spread  to  dry,  and  when  we  were 
equipped,  with  urgent  hospitality,  in  others  belonging  to 
our  hostesses,  we  were  ushered  into  the  parlor  or  '  keeping 
room.' 

Here,  writing  at  an  old-fashioned  secretary,  sat  the 
master  of  the  house,  a  hearty,  cheerful-looking,  middle-aged 
man ;  evidently  a  person  of  less  refinement  than  his  wife, 
but  still  of  a  most  prepossessing  exterior.  He  fell  no  whit 
behind  in  doing  the  honors,  and  we  soon  found  ourselves 
quite  at  ease.  We  recounted  the  adventures  of  our  tiny 
journey,  and  laughed  at  our  unlucky  over-running  of  the 
game. 

'  Ah  !  Tinker ville  !  yes,  I  think  it  will  be  some  time  yet 
before  those  dreams  will  come  to  pass.  I  have  told  Mr. 
Jephson  there  was  nothing  there  to  make  a  village  out  of.' 

'  You  are  acquainted  then  with  the  present  proprietors  ?' 

'  With   one   of  them   I  have  been  acquainted  since  we 


140  ANEWHOMB, 

were  boys  ;  and  he  has  been  a  speculator  all  that  time,  and 
is  now  at  least  as  poor  as  ever.  He  has  been  very  urgent 
with  me  to  sell  out  here  and  locate  in  his  village,  as  he 
calls  it ;  but  we  knew  rather  too  much  of  him  at  home  for 
that/  and  he  glanced  at  his  fair  spouse  with  some  archness. 
I  could  scarcely  believe  that  any  man  could  have  been 
impudent  enough  to  propose  such  an  exchange,  but  nothing 
is  incredible  in  Michigan. 

Mrs.  Beckworth  was  now  engaged  in  getting  tea,  in  spite 
of  our  hollow-hearted  declarations  that  we  did  not  wish  it. 
With  us,  be  it  known  to  new  comers,  whatever  be  the  hour 
of  the  day,  a  cup  of  tea,  with  trimmings,  is  always  in 
season  ;  and  is  considered  as  the  orthodox  mode  of  welcom 
ing  any  guest,  from  the  clergyman  to  '  the  maid  that  does 
the  meanest  chores.'  We  were  soon  seated  at  a  delicately 
furnished  table. 

The  countenance  of  the  good  lady  had  something  of 
peculiar  interest  for  me.  It  was  mild,  intelligent,  and  very 
pleasing.  No  envious  silver  streaked  the  rich  brown  locks 
which  were  folded  with  no  little  elegance  above  the  fair  brow. 
A  slight  depression  of  the  outer  extremity  of  the  eyelid,  and 
of  the  delicately  pencilled  arch  above  it,  seemed  to  tell  of 
sorrow  and  meek  endurance.  I  was  sure  that  like  so  many 
western  settlers,  the  fair  and  pensive  matron  had  a  story  ; 
and  when  I  had  once  arrived  at  this  conclusion,  I  determin 
ed  to  make  a  brave  push  to  ascertain  the  truth  of  my 
conjecture. 

I  began,  while  Mrs.  Beckworth  was  absent  from  the 
parlor,  by  telling  every  thing  I  could  think  of;  this  being 
the  established  mode  of  getting  knowledge  in  this  country. 
Mr.  Beckworth  did  not  bite. 

'  Is  this  young  lady  your  daughter,  Mr.  Beckworth  ?' 


WHO'LL    FOLLOW?  141 

'  A  daughter  of  my  wife's — Mary  Jane  Harrington  !' 

'  Oh  !  ah !  a  former  marriage ;  and  the  fine  young  man 
who  brought  us  into  such  good  quarters  is  a  brother  of 
Miss  Harrington  I  am  sure.' 

'A  half  brother— Charles  Boon.' 

'  Mrs.  Beckworth  thrice  married !  impossible !'  was  my 
not  very  civil  but  quite  natural  exclamation. 

Our  host  smiled  quietly,  a  smile  which  enticed  me  still 
further.  He  was,  fortunately  for  my  reputation  for  civility, 
too  kindly  polite  not  to  consent  to  gratify  my  curiosity, 
which  I  told  him  sincerely  had  been  awakened  by  the 
charming  countenance  of  his  wife,  who  was  evidently  the 
object  of  his  highest  admiration. 

As  we  rode  through  the  freshened  woods  with  Mr. 
Beckworth,  who  had,  with  ready  politeness,  offered  to  see 
us  safely  a  part  of  the  way,  he  gave  us  the  particulars  of 
his  early  history ;  and  to  establish  my  claim  to  the 
character  of  a  physiognomist,  I  shall  here  recount  what  he 
told  me ;  and,  as  I  cannot  recollect  his  words,  I  must  give 
this  romance  of  rustic  life  in  my  own,  taking  a  new  chapter 
for  it. 


142  A    NEW    HOME, 


CHAPTER    XXIV. 

Sudden  partings,  such  as  press 
The  life  from  out  young  hearts ;  and  choking  sighs 
Which  ne'er  might  be  repeated,  who  could  guesg 

If  ever  more  should  meet  those  mutual  eyes 

BYRON. 

HENRY  BECKWORTH,  the  eldest  son  of  a  Massachusetts 
farmer,  of  small  means  and  many  mouths,  was  glad  to 
accept  a  situation  as  clerk  in  the  comprehensive  'variety 
store '  of  his  cousin,  Ellis  Irving,  who  was  called  a  great 
merchant  in  the  neighboring  town  of  Langton.  This 
cousin  Ellis  had  fallen  into  the  dangerous  and  not  very 
usual  predicament  of  having  every  body's  good  word ;  and 
it  was  not  until  he  had  failed  in  business,  that  any  one 
discovered  that  he  had  a  fault  in  the  world. 

While  he  was  yet  in  his  heyday,  and  before  the  world 
knew  that  he  had  been  so  good  natured  as  to  endorse  for 
his  wife's  harum-scarum  brother,  his  clerk,  Henry  Beck- 
worth,  had  never  dared  to  acknowledge,  even  in  his 
dreams,  that  he  loved  to  very  dizziness  his  sweet  cousin 
Agnes  Irving.  But  when  mortification  and  apoplexy  had 
done  their  work  upon  Mr.  Irving,  and  his  delicate  wife  had 
ascertained  that  the  remnant  of  her  days  must  pass  in 
absolute  poverty,  dependent  for  food  and  raiment  upon  her 
daughter's  needle,  Henry  found  his  wits  and  his  tongue, 
and  made  so  good  use  of  both,  that,  ere  long,  his  cousin 
Agnes  did  not  deny  that  she  liked  him  very  well. 


WHO'LL    FOLLOW?  143 

Now  young  ladies  who  have  been  at  boarding  school  and 
learned  to  paint  water-melons  in  water  colors,  and  work 
Rebecca  at  the  well  in  chenille  and  gold  thread,  find  real, 
thrifty,  housewifely  sewing,  very  slow  and  hard  work,  to 
earn  even  bread  and  salt  by  ;  but  the  dove-eyed  Agnes 
had  been  the  sole  care  and  pride  of  a  genuine  New- 
England  housewife,  who  could  make  hard  gingerbread  as 
well  as  soft,  and  who  had  plumed  herself  on  being  able  to 
put  every  stitch  into  six  fine  shirts  between  Sunday 
evening  and  Saturday  night.  And  so  the  fair  child, 
though  delicately  bred,  earned  her  mother's  living  and  her 
own,  with  cheerful  and  ungrudging  industry ;  and-  Henry 
sent  all  the  surplus  of  his  clerkly  gains  to  his  father,  who 
sometimes  found  the  cry  of  '  crowdie,  crowdie,  a'  the  day,' 
rather  difficult  to  pacify. 

But  by-and-by,  Mrs.  Irving  became  so  feeble  that  Agnes 
was  obliged  to  nurse  her  instead  of  plying  her  skilful 
needle ;  and  then  matters  went  far  astray,  so  that  after  a 
while  the  kind  neighbors  brought  in  almost  all  that  was 
consumed  in  that  sad  little  household ;  Henry  Beckworth 
being  then  out  of  employ,  and  unable  for  the  time  to  find 
any  way  of  aiding  his  cousin,  save  by  his  personal  services 
in  the  sick  room. 

He  grew  almost  mad  under  his  distress,  and  the  anxious, 
careful  love  which  is  the  nursling  of  poverty,  and  at  length 
seeing  Mrs.  Irving's  health  a  little  amended,  he  gave  a  long, 
sad,  farewell  kiss  to  his  Agnes,  and  left  her  with  an  assu 
rance  that  she  should  hear  from  him  soon.  He  dared  not 
tell  her  that  he  was  quitting  her  to  go  to  sea,  in  order  that 
he  might  have  immediate  command  of  a  trifling  sum  which 
he  could  devote  to  her  service. 

He  made  his  way  to   the   nearest   sea-port,  secured  a 


144  A    NEW    HOME, 

berth  before  the  mast  in  a  vessel  about  to  sail  for  the  East 
Indies ;  and  then  put  into  a  letter  all  the  love,  and  hope, 
and  fear,  and  caution,  and  encouragement,  and  resolution, 
and  devotedness,  that  one  poor  sheet  could  carry,  giving 
the  precious  document  into  the  care  of  a  Langton  man, 
who  was  returning  '  direct,'  as  he  said,  to  the  spot  where 
poor  Henry  had  left  his  senses. 

This  said  letter  told  Agnes,  among  other  things,  how  and 

when  to  draw  on  Messrs. ,  for  Henry's  wages,  which 

were  left  subject  to  her  order — and  the  lover  went  to  sea, 
with  a  heavy  heart  indeed,  but  with  a  comforting  security 
that  he  had  done  all  that  poverty  would  let  him,  for  the 
idol  of  his  heart. 

An  East  India  voyage  is  very  long,  and  most  people 
experience  many  a  changing  mood  and  many  a  wayward 
moment  during  its  course;  but  Henry  Beckworth's  heart 
beat  as  if  it  would  burst  his  blue  jacket,  when  he  found 
himself  on  shore  again,  and  thought  of  what  awaited  him 
at  Langton. 

He  called  on  Messrs. ,  to  ascertain  whether  any 

thing  remained  of  his  pay  and  found  that  every  dollar  was 
untouched.  At  first  this  angered  him  a  little  ;  '  for,'  as  he 
justly  argued,  '  if  Agnes  loved  me  as  I  love  her — but  never 
mind !'  This  I  give  as  a  fair  specimen  of  his  thoughts  on 
his  homeward  journey.  All  his  contemplations,  however 
incoherent  or  wide  of  the  mark,  came  invariably  to  one 
conclusion — that  Agnes  would  surely  be  willing  to  marry 
him,  poor  as  he  was,  rather  than  he  should  go  to  sea 
again. 

It  was  evening,  and  a  very  dull,  lead-colored  evening, 
when  the  stage  that  contained  our  lover  stopped  at 
the  only  public-house  in  Langton,  The  True  Blue 


WHO'LL    FOLLOW?  145 

Hotel,  kept,  as  the  oval  sign  which  creaked  by  its  side 
informed  the  grateful  public,  by  Job  Jephson,  (at  this 
moment,  J.  Jephson,  Esquire,  of  Tinkerville,  in  Michigan,) 
the  very  Job  Jephson  to  whose  kindly  care  Henry  had 
committed  his  parting  letter.  The  stage  passed  on,  and 
Mr.  Beckworth  paced  the  tesselated  floor  of  Mr.  Jephson's 
bar-room,  until  the  worthy  proprietor  and  himself  were  left 
its  sole  occupants. 

'  Why,  Henry,  my  boy,  is  that  you  ?  Do  tell !  Why 
your  hat  was  slouched  over  your  eyes  so,  that  I  did  not 
know  you !  Why,  man !  where  on  airtk  have  you  sprung 
from  ?' 

Henry  asked  after  everybody,  and  then  after  Agnes 
Irvincf  and  her  mother. 

O 

'  Agnes  Irving !' 

'  Dead  !'  said  Henry,  wildly  enough. 

'  Dead  !  no,  married  to  be  sure !'  three  months  ago ;  and 
this  very  day  a  week  ago,  her  mother  was  buried.' 

It  is  really  surprising  how  instantaneously  pride  comes 
to  one's  aid  on  some  occasions.  The  flashing  thought  of 
the  loved  one's  death,  had  been  anguish  intolerable  and 
inconcealable  ;  the  certainty  of  what  was  far  worse  only 
blanched  Henry's  cheek,  and  set  his  teeth  firmly  together, 
while  his  lips  questioned  on,  and  the  loquacious  host  of  the 
True  Blue  proceeded. 

'  Poor  Agnes  saw  hard  times  after  you  went  away. 
She  had  to  give  up  the  house  you  left  her  in,  and  take 
a  room  at  Mr.  Truesdell's.  And  then  Mrs.  Irving  did 
nothing  but  pine  after  the  comforts  she  had  lost,  for  her 
mind  was  kind  o'  broke  up  by  trouble.  And  Agnes  tried 
to  find  some  other  place  to  board,  because  her  mother 
took  such  an  awful  dislike  to  Mrs.  Truesdell ;  but  there 
13 


146  A    NEW    HOME, 

wasn't  nobody  willing  to  take  them  in,  because  the  old 
lady  was  so  particular.  And  so,  John  Harrington — you 
know  John  ? — made  up  to  her  again,  though  she'd  refused 
him  two  or  three  times  before ;  and  said  he  loved  her 
better  than  ever,  and  that  he  would  take  her  mother  home 
and  do  for  her  as  if  she  was  his  own.  Now,  you  see,  the 
neighbors  had  got  pretty  much  tired  of  sending  in  things, 
because  they  thought  Aggy  ought  n't  to  refuse  such  a 
good  offer,  and  so  after  a  while  John  got  her.  After  all, 
the  poor  old  lady  did  not  seem  to  enjoy  her  new  home, 
but  pined  away  faster  than  ever,  and  said  she  knew  Aggy 
sold  herself  for  her  sake,  but  that  was  only  a  notion  you 
know,  for  John  was  an  excellent  match  for  a  poor ' 

'  Did  you  give  my  cousin  the  letter  I  handed  you  ?' 
interrupted  Henry. 

'  I  '11  just  tell  you  all  about  that,'  responded  Mr.  Jephson, 
complacently  drawing  a  chair  for  Henry,  and  inviting  him 
to  sit,  as  if  for  a  long  story.  '  I'll  just  tell  you  how  that 
was.  When  you  and  I  parted  that  time,  I  thought  I  was 
all  ready  for  a  start  home ;  but  there  was  a  chance 
turned  up  to  spekilate  a  little,  and  arter  that  I  went  down 
South  to  trade  away  some  notions,  so  that  when  I  got 
back  to  Langton  it  was  quite  cold  weather,  and  I  took  off 
my  best  coat  and  laid  it  away,  for  where  's  the  use  of  wear 
ing  good  clothes  under  a  great  coat,  you  know  ?  and  there, 
to  be  sure  was  your  letter  in  the  pocket  of  it.  Well, 
before  I  found  it  again  Agnes  was  getting  ready  to  be 
married ;  and,  thinks  I  to  myself,  like  enough  it  's  a  love- 
letter,  and  might  break  off  the  match  if  she  got  it,  gals  are 
so  foolish!  so  I  just  locked  up  the  letter  and  said  nothing 
to  nobody  and ' there  lay  Mr.  Jephson  on  his  bar 
room  floor. 


WHO'LL    FOLLOW  ?  U? 

Henry  turned  from  the  place  with  some  glimmering  of 
an  intention  to  seek  his  lost  love  and  tell  her  all,  but  one 
moment's  lapse  cured  this  madness ;  so  he  only  sat  down 
and  looked  at  Job,  who  was  picking  himself  up  and  talking 
all  the  while. 

'  Man  alive  !  what  do  you  put  yourself  into  such  plaguy 
passion  for  ?  I  done  it  all  for  the  best ;  and  as  for  forget 
ting,  who  does  not  forget  sometimes  ?  Plague  take  you  I 
you  've  given  my  back  such  a  wrench  I  shan't  be  able  to 
go  to  trainin'  to-morrow,  and  tore  my  pantaloons  besides  ; 
and,  arter  all,  you  may  likely  thank  me  for  it  as  long  as 
you  live.  There  's  as  good  fish  in  the  sea  as  ever  was 
caught — but,  I  swan !  you  're  as  white  as  the  wall,  and  no 
mistake,'  and  he  caught  the  poor  soul  as  he  was  falling 
from  his  chair. 

'  Well,  now,  if  this  does  n't  beat  cock-fighting !'  muttered 
he,  as  he  laid  his  insensible  guest  at  full  length  on  the 
floor  and  ran  to  the  bar  for  some  *  camp  hire,'  which  he 
administered  in  all  haste,  •  to  take  on  so  about  a  gal  with 
out  a  cent,  but  he  won't  come  to  after  all,  and  I  shall  have 
to  bleed  him :'  saying  which  he  pulled  off  one  sleeve  of 
Henry's  jacket,  and  proceeded  in  due  form  to  the  ope 
ration. 

'  He  won't  bleed,  I  vow !  Hang  the  fellow  !  if  he  dies, 
I  shall  be  took  up  for  manslaughter.  Why,  Harry,  I  say,' 
shaking  him  soundly,  and  dragging  at  his  arm  with  no 
gentle  force.  At  last  blood  came  slowly,  and  Beckworth 
became  once  more  conscious  of  misery,  and  Mr.  Jeph  son's 
tongue  set  out  as  if  fresh  oiled  by  the  relief  of  his  fears  for 
his  own  safety. 

'Now,  Henry,  don't  make  such  a  fool  of  yourself! 
You  always  used  to  be  a  fellow  of  some  sconce.  What 


148  A    NEW    HOME, 

can't  be  cured  must  be  endured.'  But  as  Henry's  lips 
resumed  their  color,  and  lie  raised  himself  from  the  floor, 
Mr.  Jephson's  habitual  prudence  urged  him  farther  and 
farther  from  the  reach  of  the  well  arm.  His  fears  were 
groundless,  however,  for  all  that  Henry  now  wanted  was 
to  be  alone,  that  he  might  weep  like  a  woman. 

'Promise  me  that  you  will  never  tell  any  one  that  I 
have  been  here  this  night,'  said  he  at  length ;  '  this  is  all 
I  ask.  Since  Agnes  is  another  man's  wife,  God  forbid  I 
should  wish  my  name  mentioned  in  her  presence.' 

'  Why,  law !  I'll  promise  that,  to  be  sure ;  but  you 
should  n't  make  so  much  out  o'  nothing :  Aggy  has  got 
the  best  house  in  town,  and  every  thing  comfortable ;  and 
it  a'n't  no  ways  likely  she  would  fret  after  you.'  And 
with  this  comforting  assurance  Henry  prepared  for  depar 
ture. 

'  I  say,  Beck  worth  !'  said  Mr.  Jephson  as  his  guest  left 
the  room  with  his  valise ;  '  I  shan't  charge  you  anything 
for  the  bleeding/ 


WHO'LL    FOLLOW?  149 


CHAPTER   XXV. 

Now  I  will  believe 

That  there  are  unicorns  ;  that  in  Arabia 
There  is  one  tree,  the  Phoanix  throne ;  one  Phoenix 
At  this  hour  reigning  there.    *    *    I'll  believe  both, 
And  what  else  doth  want  credit,  come  to  me, 
And  I'll  be  sworn  'tis  true. 

TEMPEST. 

THE  windows  of  heaven  were  opened  that  night.  The 
rain  descended  in  sheets  instead  of  drops  ;  and  it  was  only 
by  an  occasional  flash  of  paly  lightning  that  our  unfortunate 
was  able  to  find  the  house  which  he  well  recollected  for 
John  Harrington's.  There  it  was  in  all  its  fresh  white 
ness  and  greenness,  and  its  deep  masses  of  foliage,  and  its 
rich  screens  of  honeysuckle  and  sweetbriar,  meet  residence 
for  a  happy  bridegroom  and  his  new-found  treasure.  The 
upper  half  of  the  parlor  shutters  was  unclosed,  and  plainly 
by  the  clear  bright  lamp-light  could  Henry  see  the  delicate 
papering  of  the  walls,  and  the  pretty  French  clock  under 
its  glass  shade  on  the  mantelpiece.  Oh !  for  one  glance  at 
the  table,  near  which  he  felt  sure  Agnes  was  sitting.  Wild 
thoughts  of  the  old  song — 

We  took  but  ae  kiss,  an'  we  tore  ourselves  away, 

were  coursing  through  his  brain,  and  he  was  deliberating 
upon  the  chance  that  the  end  window,  which  looked  on  a 
piazza,  might  be  free  from  the  envious  shutter,  when  a  man 
ran  against  him  in  the  dark.  The  next  flash  showed  a 
great-coated  figure  entering  the  pretty  rural  gate  to  the 


150  A    NEW    HOME, 

little  shrubbery ;  and  in  another  moment  the  hall  door 
opened.  Henry  saw  the  interior,  light  and  cheerful ;  and 
again  all  was  dark. 

It  would  have  been  very  wrong  to  set  the  house  on  fire 
and  then  go  and  murder  Job  Jephson  ;  and  as  Henry  could 
not  at  the  moment  decide  upon  any  other  course  of  conduct, 
which  would  be  at  all  in  unison  with  his  feelings,  he  set  out, 
a  human  locomotive  at  the  top-speed,  in  the  very  teeth  of 
the  storm,  on  his  way  towards  the  sea-port  again.  The 
worse  one  feels,  the  faster  one  travels,  hoping  to  outrun 
sorrow  ;  so  it  did  not  take  Henry  Beckworth  long  to  reach 
a  neighboring  town,  where  he  -could  find  a  stage-coach ; 
and  he  was  far  at  sea  again  in  the  course  of  a  few  days. 

His  outre-mer  adventures  are  of  no  importance  to  my 
story — how,  as  he  stood  with  two  or  three  messmates, 
staring,  like  a  true  Yankee,  at  the  Tower  of  London,  a 
press-gang  seized  them  all,  and  rowed  them  to  a  vessel 
which  lay  off  the  Traitors'  Gate,  the  Americans  protesting 
themselves  such,  and  the  John  Bulls  laughing  at  them  ; 
how,  when  they  got  on  board  the  man  o'  war,  they  showed 
their  protections,  and  the  officer  of  his  Majesty's  recruiting 
service  said  he  could  do  nothing  in  the  case  till  the  ship 
returned  from  her  cruize — and  how  the  ship  did  not  return 
from  her  cruize,  but  after  cruizing  about  for  some  three 
years  or  more,  was  taken  by  a  French  first-rate  and  carried 
into  Brest.  All  this  is  but  little  to  the  purpose.  But 
when  Henry  was  thrown  into  a  French  prison,  his  Ameri 
can  certificates  procured  his  release  through  the  consul's 
good  offices,  and  he  shipped  at  once  for  New  York  some 
what  weary  of  a  sea  life. 

At  New  York  he  learned  from  a  townsman  whom  he 


WHO'LL    FOLLOW?  151 

met  there  that  Agnes  Harrington  had   been  two  years  a 
widow. 

1  Is  she  rich  ?'  asked  Henry.  A  strange  question  for  a 
true  lover. 

'  Rich  ! — Lord  bless  ye  !  John  Harrington  was  n't  worth 
that ;'  snapping  his  fingers  most  expressively.  '  His  pro 
perty  was  under  mortgage  to  such  an  extent,  that  all  it 
would  sell  for  would  n't  clear  it.  His  widow  and  child  will 
not  have  a  cent  after  old  Horner  forecloses,  as  he  is  now 
doing.  And  Mrs.  Harrington's  health  is  very  poor,  though 
to  my  thinking  she's  prettier  than  ever.' 

-  Henry's  movements  were  but  little  impeded  by  baggage, 
and  the  journey  to  Langton  was  performed  in  a  short  time. 
Once  more  was  he  set  down  at  Job  Jephson's  ;  and  there 
was  daylight  enough  this  time  to  see,  besides  the  oval  sign 
before  hinted  at,  which  had  for  years  held  out  hopes  of 
'  Entertainment  for  man  and  beast,'  a  legend  over  the  door 
in  great  white  characters,  '  Post  Office.'  '  Good  business 
for  Job,'  thought  Henry  Beckworth, — a  board  in  one  window 
setting  forth,  '  Drugs  and  Medicines,'  and  a  card  in  the 
other,  '  Tailoring  done  here.' 

Slight  salutation  contented  Henry,  when  the  man  of 
letters  made  his  appearance,  and  he  requested  a  horse  to 
carry  him  as  far  as  his  father's,  saying  he  would  send  for 
his  trunk  in  the  morning.  Mr.  Jephson  made  some  little 
difficulty  and  delay,  but  Henry  seemed  in  fiery  haste.  In 
truth  he  hated  the  sight  of  Job  beyond  all  reason;  but 
that  complacent  personage  seemed  to  have  forgotten,  very 
conveniently,  all  former  passages  in  that  memorable  bar 
room. 

'  You  do  n't  ask  after  your  old  friends,  Harry/  said  he. 


152  A    NEW    HOME, 

'  A  good  many  things  has  altered  here  since  I  see  you  last. 
You  came  that  time  a  little  too  late.' 

Henry  looked  dirks  at  the  fellow,  but  he  went  on  as 
coldly  as  ever. 

*  Now  this  time,  to  my  thinkin,  you  Ve  come  a  leetle  too 
soon.' 

Henry  tried  not  to  ask  him  what  he  meant ;  but  for  his 
life  he  could  not  help  it. 

'  Why,  I  mean,  if  John  Harrington's  widow  has  not  more 
sense  than  I  think  she  has,  you  Ve  come  in  time  to  spoil  a 
good  match.' 

'A  match!'  was  all  Henry  could  say. 

*  Ay,  a  match  ;  for   Colonel  Boon  came  from  there  yes 
terday,  and  sent  for  old  Horner  here  to  this  blessed  house, 
and  took  up  the  mortgage  on  Harrington's  property ;  and 
every  body  knows  he  has  been  after  Aggy  this  twelve 
month,  offering  to  marry  her  and  clear  the  property,  and  do 
well  by  the  child.     And  if  there's  a  good  man  on  airth, 
Boon  is  that  man,  and  every  body  knows  it.' 

What  did  Henry  Beck  worth  now  ?  He  unordered  his 
horse,  and  went  quietly  to  bed. 


WHO'LL    FOLLOW?  153 


CHAPTER    XXVI. 

There  are  thoughts  that  our  burden  can  lighten, 

Though  toilsome  and  steep  be  the  way, 
And  dreams  that  like  moonlight  can  brighten 

With  a  lustre  far  clearer  than  day. 

Love  nursed  amid  pleasures  is  faithless  as  they, 
But  the  love  born  of  sorrow,  like  sorrow  is  true. 

MOORE. 

HENRY  BECKWORTH  came  from  the  hand  of  Nature 
abundantly  furnished  with  that  excellent  qualification 
known  and  revered  throughout  New-England,  under  the 
expressive  name  of  'spunk.'  This  quality  at  first  prompted 
him,  spite  of  the  croakings  of  the  ill-omened  Job,  to 
present  himself  before  the  one  only  object  of  his  constant 
soul,  to  tell  her  all,  and  to  ask  her  to  share  with  him  the 
weal  or  woe  which  might  yet  be  in  store  for  him.  But  he 
had  now  seen  a  good  deal  of  this  excellent  world,  and  the 
very  indifferent  people  who  transact  its  affairs.  He  had 
tasted  the  tender  mercies  of  a  British  man  o'  war,  and  the 
various  agrimens  of  a  French  prison;  and  the  practical 
conclusion  which  had  gradually  possessed  itself  of  his 
mind,  was,  that  money  is,  beyond  all  dispute,  one  of  the 
necessaries  of  life. 

No  way  of  making  money  off-hand  occurred  to  him  as 
he  tossed  and  groaned  through  the  endless  hours  of  that 
weary  night.  He  had  neither  house  nor  land,  nor  yet  a 
lottery  ticket — nor  a  place  under  government — and  the 
chest  which  stood  at  his  bedside,  though  it  contained 


154  A    NEW    HOME, 

enough  of  this  world's  goods  to  keep  his  fair  proportions 
from  the  weather  ;  and  a  sea-journal — a  love-log — which 
he  hoped  might  one  day,  by  some  romantic  chance,  come 
into  the  fair  hands  of  his  beloved,  and  give  her  to  guess 
how  his  sad  life  had  passed — held,  as  he  well  knew, 
nothing  which  she  could  in  anywise  eat,  or  that  she  would 
be  probably  willing,  under  any  contingency,  to  put  on. 

I  feel  proud  of  my  hero.  He  was  '  a  man  of  deeds,  not 
words.'  He  loved  Agnes  so  well,  that  before  morning 
shone  on  his  haggard  cheek,  he  had  determined  to  turn  his 
back  forever  on  the  home  of  his  youth,  the  scene  of  his  first 
love-dream;  and  to  seek  his  dark  fortune  far  away  from 
the  place  which  held  all  that  his  heart  prized  on  earth. 

This  resolution  once  taken,  he  arose  and  addressed  him 
self  to  his  sad  journey,  waiting  only  the  earliest  beam  of 
light  before  he  awakened  Mr.  Jephson.  This  worthy  com 
mended  much  his  prudent  course,  and  recommended  a  long 
voyage ;  an  attempt  to  discover  the  North- West  Passage, 
or  to  ascertain  the  truth  of  Captain  Symmes'  theory;  to 
take  the  nonsense  out  of  him  and  make  a  little  money. 

For  five  long  years  did  Henry  Beckworth  box  the  com 
pass  ;  five  years  of  whaling  voyages  and  all  their  attendant 
hardships — and  when  at  the  end  of  that  time  he  retouched 
his  native  shore,  richer  than  he  had  ever  been  before  in  his 
life,  he  heard,  as  the  reader  will  no  doubt  anticipate,  that 
Agnes  Boon  was  again  unmated ;  her  worthy  Colonel 
having  been  killed  by  a  fall  from  his  horse  in  less  than  two 
years  from  his  marriage. 

Yet  did  our  phcenix  of  lovers  approach  the  village  which 
he  had  vowed  never  to  see  again,  with  many  more  mis 
givings  than  he  had  experienced  on  former  occasions. 
Years  and  a  rough  life  he  was  well  aware  had  changed  him 


WHO'LL    FOLLOW?  155 

much.  He  thought  of  his  Agnes,  fair  and  graceful  as 
a  snow- drop,  and  feared  lest  his  weather-beaten  visage 
might  find  no  favor  in  her  eyes.  Yet  he  determined  that 
this  time  nothing,  not  even  that  screech-owl  Job  Jephson, 
should  prevent  him  from  seeing  her,  face  to  face,  and 
learning  his  fate  from  her  own  lips. 

He  approached  Langton  by  a  road  that  passed  not  near 
the  detested  house  of  man  and  horse  entertainment,  and 
was  just  emerging  from  a  thick  grove  which  skirted  the 
village  on  that  side,  when  he  came  near  riding  over  a  man 
who  seemed  crouched  on  the  ground  as  if  in  search  of 
something,  and  muttering  to  himself  the  while.  The  face 
that  turned  hastily  round  was  Job  Jephson's. 

«  Why,  it  a'n't  ?  Yes,  I  '11  be  switched  if  it  is  n't  Harry 
Beckworth  rose  from  the  dead  !'  said  this  fated  tormentor  ; 
and  he  fastened  himself  on  the  bridle-rein  in  such  sort,  that 
Henry  could  not  rid  himself  of  his  company  without 
switching  him  in  good  earnest. 

'  Here  was  I,  lookin  up  some  little  things  for  my  steam 
doctorin  business,'  said  Mr.  Jephson,  '  and  little  thinkin  of 
any  body  in  the  world ;  ,and  you  must  come  along  jist  like 
a  sperrit.  But  I  've  a  notion  you  Ve  hit  it  about  right  this 
time.  I  s'pose  you  know  Aggy  's  a  rich  widow  by  this 
time,  do  n't  ye  ?' 

Henry  vouchsafed  no  reply,  though  he  found  it  very 
difficult  to  maintain  a  dignified  reserve,  when  so  many 
questions  were  clustering  on  his  lips.  But  it  was  all  one  to 
Job — question  or  no  question,  answer  or  no  answer,  he 
would  talk  on,  and  on,  and  on. 

'  I  '11  tell  ye  what,'  he  continued,  '  I  should  n't  wonder  if 
Aggy  looked  higher  now,  for  she  's  a  good  spec  for  any 
man.  I  see  you  've  smarted  up  a  good  deal,  but  do  n't  be 


156  A    NEW    HOME, 

cock-sure — for  there  's  others  that  would  be  glad  to  take 
her  and  her  two  children.  I  've  been  a  thinkin  my 
self ' 

And  now  Henry  gave  Job  such  a  switch  across  the 
knuckles  as  effectually  cleared  the  bridle,  and  changed  the 
current  of  the  steam-doctor's  thoughts.  In  half  an  hour 
he  rang  at  Mrs.  Boon's  door,  and  was  ushered  at  once  into 
her  presence. 

'Mr.  Beckworth,  ma'am,'  said  the  little  waiting-maid  as 
she  threw  open  the  parlor  door. 

Agnes,  the  beloved,  rose  from  her  seat — sat  down  again 
— tried  to  speak,  and  burst  into  tears ;  while  Henry  looked 
on  her  countenance — changed  indeed,  but  still  lovely  in 
matronly  dignity — more  fondly  than  in  the  days  of  his 
lighter  youthful  love ;  and  seating  himself  beside  her, 
began  at  the  wrong  end  of  the  story,  as  most  people  do  in 
such  cases,  talking  as  if  it  were  a  thing  of  course  that  his 
twice-widowed  love  should  become  his  wife. 

'  Marry  again  !  0,  never  !' — that  was  entirely  out  of  the 
question ;  and  she  wiped  her  eyes  and  asked  her  cousin  to 
stay  to  dinner.  But  Henry  deferred  his  ultimatum  on  this 
important  point,  till  he  should  have  ravelled  out  the  whole 
web  of  his  past  life  before  the  dewy  eyes  of  his  still  fair 
mistress,  till  he  should  tell  her  all  his  love — no,  that  he 
could  never  fully  tell,  but  some  of  the  proofs  of  it  at  least, 
and  that  first  horrible  forget  of  Job  Jephson's.  And  when 
this  was  told  in  many  words,  Agnes,  all  sighs  and  tears, 
still  said  no,  but  so  much  more  faintly  that  Mr.  Beckworth 
thought  he  would  stay  to  dinner.  And  then — but  why 
should  I  tell  the  rest,  when  the  reader  of  my  true-love 
story  has  already  seen  Mrs.  Beckworth  like  a  fair  though 
full-blown  china-rose — Mr.  Beckworth  with  bien  content 


WHO'LL    FOLLOW?  157 

written  on  every  line  of  his  handsome  middle-aged  face — 
Mary  Jane  Harrington  a  comely  marriageable  lass,  and 
George  Boon  a  strapping  youth  of  eighteen — all  flourishing 
on  an  oak  opening  in  the  depths  of  Michigan  ? 

Let  none  imagine  that  this  tale  of  man's  constancy  must 
be  the  mere  dream  of  my  fancy.  I  acknowledge  nothing 
but  the  prettinesses.  To  Henry  Beckworth  himself  I  refer 
the  incredulous,  and  if  they  do  not  recognise  my  story  in 
his,  I  cannot  help  it.  Even  a  woman  can  do  no  more  than 
her  best. 


14 


158  A    NEW    HOME, 


CHAPTER    XXVII. 


Smelling  so  sweetly,  all  musk,  and  so  rushling,  I  warrant  you,  in  silk  and 
gold;  and  in  such  alligant  terms. 

SHAKSPEARE— Merry  Wives  of  Windsor. 

Art  thou  not  Romeo,  and  a  Montague  ? 

SHAKSPEARE. 

My  brain  's  in  a  fever,  my  pulses  beat  quick ; 
I  shall  die,  or  at  least  be  exceedingly  sick ! 
O,  what  do  you  think.!  after  all  my  romancing 
My  visions  of  glory,  my  sighing,  my  glancing— 

Miss  BIDDY  FUDGE. 


AN  addition  to  our  Montacute  first  circle  had  lately 
appeared  in  the  person  of  Miss  Eloise  Fidler,  an  elder 
sister  of  Mrs.  Rivers,  who  was  to  spend  some  months 
'  in  this  peaceful  retreat,' — to  borrow  one  of  her  favorite 
expressions. 

This  young  lady  was  not.  as  handsome  as  sha  would 
fain  have  been,  if  I  may  judge  by  the  cataracts  of  ash- 
colored  ringlets  which  shaded  her  cheeks,  and  the  exceed 
ing  straitness  of  the  stays  which  restrained  her  somewhat 
exuberant  proportions.  Her  age  was  at  a  stand  ;  but  I 
could  never  discover  exactly  where,  for  this  point  proved 
an  exception  to  the  general  communicativeness  of  her 
disposition.  I  guessed  it  at  eight  and  twenty ;  but  perhaps 
she  would  have  judged  this  uncharitable  ;  so  I  will  not 
insist.  Certain  it  is  that  it  must  have  taken  a  good  while 
to  read  as  many  novels  and  commit  to  memory  as  much 


WHO'LL    FOLLOW?  159 

poetry,  as  lined  the  head  and  exalted  the  sensibilities 
of  our  fair  visitant.  » 

Her  dress  was  in  the  height  of  fashion,  and  all  her 
accoutrements  point  de  vice.  A  gold  pencil-case  of  the 
most  delicate  proportions  was  suspended  by  a  kindred 
chain  round  a  neck  which  might  be  called  whity-brown  ; 
and  a  note-book  of  lady-like-ness  was  peeping  from  the 
pocket  of  her  highly-useful  apron  of  blue  silk — ever  ready 
to  secure  a  passing  thought  or  an  elegant  quotation.  Her 
album — she  was  just  the  person  to  have  an  album — was 
resplendent  in  gold  and  satin,  and  the  verses  'which 
meandered  over  its  emblazoned  pages  were  of  the  most 
unexceptionable  quality,  overlaid  with  flowers  and  gems — 
love  and  despair.  To  find  any  degree  of  appropriateness 
in  these  various  offerings,  one  must  allow  the  fortunate 
possessor  of  the  purple  volume,  at  least  all  the  various 
perfections  of  an  admirable  Crichton,  allayed  in  some  small 
measure  by  the  trifling  faults  of  coldness,  fickleness,  and 
deceit ;  and,  to  judge  of  Miss  Fidler's  friends  by  their 
hand-writing,  they  must  have  been  able  to  offer  an  edify 
ing  variety  of  bumps  to  the  fingers  of  the  phrenologist. 
But  here  is  the  very  book  itself  at  my  elbow,  waiting  these 
three  months,  I  blush  to  say,  for  a  contribution  which  has 
yet  to  be  pumped  up  from  my  unwilling  brains  ;  and  1 
have  a  mind  to  steal  a  few  specimens  from  its  already 
loaded  pages,  for  the  benefit  of  the  distressed,  who  may, 
like  myself,  be  at  their  wit's  end  for  something  to  put  in 
just  such  a  book. 

The  first  page,  rich  with  embossed  lilies,  bears  the  invo 
cation,  written  in  a  great  black  spattering  hand,  and  wear 
ing  the  air  of  a  defiance.  It  runs  thus : — 


160  A    NEW    HOME, 

If  among  the  names  of  the  stainless  few, 

Thine  own  hath  maintained  a  place, 
Come  dip  thy  pen  in  the  sable  dew, 

And  with  it  this  volume  grace. 

But  oh !  if  thy  soul  e'er  encourag'd  a  thought 

Which  purity's  self  might  blame, 
Close  quickly  the  volume,  and  venture  not 

To  sully  its  snows  with  thy  name. 

x 

Then  we  come  to  a  wreath  of  flowers  of  gorgeous  hues, 
within  whose  circle  appears  in  a  miminee  piminee  hand, 
evidently  a  young  lady's — 

THE    WREATH    OF    SLEEP. 

O  let  me  twine  this  glowing  wreath, 

Amid  those  rings  of  golden  hair, 
'Twill  soothe  thee  with  its  odorous  breath 

To  sweet  forgetfulness  of  care. 

Tis  form'd  of  every  scented  flower 
That  flings  its  fragrance  o'er  the  night; 

And  gifted  with  a  fairy  power 
To  fill  thy  dreams  with  forms  of  light. 

Twas  braided  by  an  angel  boy 

When  fresh  from  Paradise  he  came 
To  fill  our  earth-born  hearts  with  joy — 

Ah !  need  I  tell  the  cherub's  name ! 

This  contributor  I  have  settled  in  my  own  mind  to  be  a 
descendant  of  Anna  Matilda,  the  high-priestess  of  the 
Delia  Cruscan  order.  The  next  blazon  is  an  interesting 
view  of  a  young  lady,  combing  her  hair.  As  she  seems 
not  to  have  been  long  out  of  bed,  the  lines  which  follow 
are  rather  appropriate,  though  I  feel  quite  sure  they  come 
from  the  expert  fingers  of  a  merchant's  clerk — from  the 
finished  elegance,  and  very  sweeping  tails  of  the  chi- 
rography. 


WHO'LL    FOLLOW?  161 


MORNING. 

Awake  !  arise !  art  thou  slumbering  still  ? 
When  the  sun  is  above  the  mapled  hill, 
And  the  shadows  are  flitting  fast  away, 
And  the  dews  are  diamond  beneath  his  ray, 
And  every  bird  in  our  vine-roofed  bower 
Is  waked  into  song  by  the  joyous  hour: 
Come,  banish  sleep  from  thy  gentle  eyes, 
Sister !  sweet  sister  !  awake !  arise  ! 

Yet  I  love  to  gaze  on  thy  lids  of  pearl, 
And.  to  mark  the  wave  of  the  single  curl, 
That  shades  in  its  beauty  thy  brow  of  snow, 
And  the  cheek  that  lies  like  a  rose  below ; 
And  to  list  to  the  murmuring  notes  that  fall 
From  thy  lips,  like  music  in  fairy  hall. 
But  it  must  not  be — the  sweet  morning  flies 
Ere  thou  hast  enjoyed  it;  awake!  arise! 

There  is  balm  on  the  wings  of  this  freshen'd  air ! 
'Twill  make  thine  eye  brighter,  thy  brow  more  fair, 
And  a  deep,  deep  rose  on  thy  cheek  shall  be 
The  meed  of  an  early  walk  with  me. 
We  will  seek  the  shade  by  the  green  hill  side, 
Or  follow  the  clear  brook's  whispering  tide; 
And  brush  the  dew  from  the  violet's  eyes — 
Sister !  sweet  sister !  awake !  arise ! 

This  I  transcribe  for  the  good  advice  which  it  contains. 
And  what  have  we  here  ?  It  is  tastefully  headed  by  an 
engraving  of  Hero  and  Ursula  in  the  '  pleached  bower,'  and 
Beatrice  running  '  like  a  lap-wing  '  in  the  background.  It 
begins  ominously. 


TO 


OH,  look  upon  this  pallid  brow  I 
Say,  canst  thou  there  discern  one  trace 

Of  that  proud  soul,  which  oft  ere  now 
Thou'st  sworn  shed  radiance  o'er  my  face? 

Chill'd  is  that  soul— its  darling  themes, 
Thy  manly  honor,  virtue,  truth, 

14* 


162  A    NEW    HOME, 

Prove  now  to  be  but  fleeting  dreams, 
Like  other  lovely  thoughts  of  youth. 

Meet,  if  thy  coward  spirit  dare, 

This  sunken  eye;  say,  dost  thou  see 
The  rays  thou  saidst  were  sparkling  there 

When  first  its  gaze  was  turn'd  on  thee? 
That  eye's  young  light  is  quench 'd  forever; 

No  change  its  radiance  can  repair: 
Will  Joy's  keen  touch  relume  it?    Never! 

It  gleams  the  watch-light  of  Despair. 

I  find  myself  growing  hoarse  by  sympathy,  and  I  shall 
venture  only  a  single  extract  more,  and  this  because  Miss 
Fidler  declares  it,  without  exception,  the  sweetest  thing  she 
ever  read.  It  is  written  with  a  crow-quill,  and  has  other 
marks  of  femininity.  Its  vignette  is  a  little  girl  and  boy 
playing  at  battledoor. 

BALLAD. 

THE  deadly  strife  was  over,  and  across  the  field  of  fame, 
With  anguish  in  his  haughty  eye,  the  Moor  Almanzor  came; 
He  prick'd  his  fiery  courser  on  among  the  scatter'd  dead, 
Till  he  came  at  last  to  what  he  sought,  a  sever'd  human  head. 

It  might  have  seem'd  a  maiden's,  so  pale  it  was,  and  fair; 

But  the  lip  and  chin  were  shaded  till  they  match'd  the  raven  hair. 

There  lingered  yet  upon  tho  brow  a  spirit  bold  and  high, 

And  the  stroke  of  death  had  scarcely  closed  the  piercing  eagle  eye. 

Almanzor  gnisp'd  the  flowing  locks,  and  he  staid  not  in  his  flight, 
Till  he  reach'd  a  lonely  castle's  gate  where  stood  a  lady  bright. 
'  Inez !  behold  thy  paramour !'  he  loud  and  sternly  cried, 
And  threw  his  ghastly  burden  down,  close  at  the  lady's  side. 

'I  sought  Ihy  bower  at  even-tide,  thou  syren,  false  as  fair! 

'  And,  would  that  I  had  rather  died  !  I  found  yon  stripling  there. 

4 1  turn'd  me  from  the  hated  spot,  but  I  swore  by  yon  dread  Heaven, 

'  To  know  no  rest  until  my  sword  the  traitor's  life  had  riven.' 

The  lady  stood  like  stone  until  he  turn'd  to  ride  away, 
And  then  she  oped  her  marble  lips,  and  wildly  thus  did  say: 

'  Alas,  alas !  thou  cruel  Moor,  what  is  it  thou  hast  done ! 

*  This  was  my  brother  Rodriguez,  my  father's  only  son.' 


WHO'LL    FO  LLOW?  163 

And  then  before  his   frenzied  eyes,  like  a  crush'd  lily  bell, 
Lifeless  upon  the  bleeding  head,  the  gentle  Inez  fell. 
He  drew  his  glittering  ataghan — he  sheath'd  it  in  his  side — 
And  for  his  Spanish  ladye-love  the  Moor  Almanzor  died. 

This  is  not  a  very  novel  incident,  but  young  ladies  like 
stories  of  love  and  murder,  and  Miss  Fidler's  tastes  were 
peculiarly  young-lady-like.  She  praised  Ainsworth  and 
James,  but  thought  Bulwer's  works  'very  immoral,'  though 
I  could  never  discover  that  she  had  more  than  skimmed 
the  story  from  any  of  them.  Cooper  she  found  '  pretty  ;' 
Miss  Sedgwick  '  pretty  well,  only  her  characters  are  such 
common  sort  of  people.' 

Miss  Fidler  wrote  her  own  poetry,  so  that  she  had  ample 
employment  for  her  time  while  with  us  in  the  woods.  It 
was  unfortunate  that  she  could  not  walk  out  much  on 
account  of  her  shoes.  She  was  obliged  to  make  out  with 
diluted  inspiration.  The  nearest  approach  she  usually 
made  to  the  study  of  Nature  was  to  sit  on  the  wood-pile, 
under  a  girdled  tree,  and  there,  with  her  gold  pencil  in 
hand,  and  her  '  eyne,  grey  as  glass,'  rolled  upwards,  poefy 
by  the  hour.  Several  people,  and  especially  one  marriage 
able  lady  of  a  certain  age,  felt  afraid  Miss  Fidler  was  '  kind 
o'  crazy.' 

And,  standing  marvel  of  Montacute,  no  guest  at  morning 
or  night  ever  found  the  fair  Eloise  ungloved.  Think  of  it ! 
In  the  very  wilds  to  be  always  like  a  cat  in  nutshells,  alone 
useless  where  all  are  so  busy  !  I  do  not  wonder  our  good 
neighbors  thought  the  damsel  a  little  touched.  And  then 
her  shoes !  '  Saint  Crispin  Crispianus  '  never  had  so  self- 
sacrificing  a  votary.  No  shoemaker  this  side  of  New  York 
could  make  a  sole  papery  enough ;  no  tannery  out  of 
France  could  produce  materials  for  this  piece  of  exquisite 
feminine  foppery.  Eternal  imprisonment  within  doors, 


164  A    NEW    HOME, 

except  in  the  warmest  and  driest  weather,  was  indeed 
somewhat  of  a  price  to  pay,  but  it  was  ungrudged.  The 
sofa  and  its  footstool,  finery  and  novels,  would  have  made 
a  delicious  world  for  Miss  Eloise  Fidler,  if 

But,  alas  !  '  all  this  availeth  me  nothing,'  has  been  ever 
the  song  of  poor  human  nature.  The  mention  of  that 
unfortunate  name  includes  the  only  real  personal,  pungent 
distress  which  had  as  yet  shaded  the  lot  of  my  interesting 
heroine.  Fidler !  In  the  mortification  adhering  to  so 
unpoetical,  so  unromantic,  so  inelegant  a  surname — a  name 
irredeemable  even  by  the  highly  classical  elegance  of  the 
Eloise,  or  as  the  fair  lady  herself  pronounced  it,  '  Elovees  ;' 
in  this  lay  all  her  wo  ;  and  the  grand  study  of  her  life  had 
been  to  sink  this  hated  cognomen  in  one  more  congenial  to 
her  taste.  Perhaps  this  very  anxiety  had  defeated  itself; 

at  any  rate,  here  she  was  at  I  did  not  mean  to  touch 

on  the  ungrateful  guess  again,  but  at  least  at  mateable 
years ;  neither  married,  nor  particularly  likely  to  be 
married. 

Mrs.  Rivers  was  the  object  of  absolute  envy  to  the  pining 
Eloise.  'Anna  had  been  so  fortunate,'  she  said;  'Rivers 
was  the  sweetest  name  !  and  Harley  was  such  an  elegant 
fellow  !' 

We  thought  poor  Anna  had  been  any  thing  but  fortu 
nate.  She  might  better  have  been  Fidler  or  Fiddlestring 
all  her  life  than  to  have  taken  the  name  of  an  indifferent 
and  dissipated  husband.  But  not  so  thought  Miss  Fidler. 
It  was  not  long  after  the  arrival  of  the  elegant  Eloise,  that 
the  Montacute  Lyceum  held  its  first  meeting  in  Mr.  Simeon 
Jenkins's  shop,  lighted  by  three  candles,  supported  by  can 
delabra  of  scooped  potatoes ;  Mr.  Jenkins  himself  sitting 
on  the  head  of  a  barrel,  as  president.  At  first  the  debates 


WHO'LL    FOLLOW?  165 

of  the  institute  were  held  with  closed  doors ;  but  after  the 
youthful  or  less  practised  speakers  had  tried  their  powers 
for  a  few  evenings,  the  Lyceum  was  thrown  open  to  the 
world  every  Tuesday  evening,  at  six  o'clock.  The  list  of 
members  was  not  very  select  as  to  age,  character,  or  stand 
ing  ;  and  it  soon  included  the  entire  gentility  of  the  town, 
and  some  who  scarce  claimed  rank  elsewhere.  The  attend 
ance  of  the  ladies  was  particularly  requested  ;  and  the 
whole  fair  sex  of  Montacute  made  a  point  of  showing 
occasionally  the  interest  they  undoubtedly  felt  in  the  gallant 
knights  who  tilted  in  this  field  of  honor. 

But  I  must  not  be  too  diffuse — I  was  speaking  of  Miss 
Fidler.  One  evening — I  hope  that  beginning  prepares 
the  reader  for  something  highly  interesting — one  evening 
the  question  to  be  debated  was  the  equally  novel  and 
striking  one  which  regards  the  comparative  mental  capacity 
of  the  sexes ;  and  as  it  was  expected  that  some  of  the  best 
speakers  on  both  sides  would  be  drawn  out  by  the  inter 
esting  nature  of  the  subject,  every  body  was  anxious  to 
attend. 

Among  the  rest  was  Miss  Fidler,  much  to  the  surprise 
of  her  sister  and  myself,  who  had  hitherto  been  so  un 
fashionable  as  to  deny  ourselves  this  gratification. 

'  What  new  whim  possesses  you,  Eloise  ?'  said  Mrs. 
Rivers ;  '  you  who  never  go  out  in  the  day-time.' 

'  0,  just  per  passy  le  tang'  said  the  young  lady,  who 
was  a  great  French  scholar ;  and  go  she  would,  and  did. 

The  debate  was  interesting  to  absolute  breathlessness, 
both  of  speakers  and  hearers,  and  was  gallantly  decided 
in  favor  of  the  fair  by  a  youthful  member  who  occupied 
the  barrel  as  president  for  the  evening.  He  gave  it  as  his 
decided  opinion,  that  if  the  natural  and  social  disadvan- 


166  A    NEW    HOME, 

tages  under  which  women  labored  and  must  ever  continue 
to  labor,  could  be  removed ;  if  their  education  could  be 
entirely  different,  and  their  position  in  society  the  reverse 
of  what  it  is  at  present,  they  would  be  very  nearly,  if  not 
quite  equal  to  the  nobler  sex,  in  all  but  strength  of  mind, 
in  which  very  useful  quality  it  was  his  opinion  that  man 
would  still  have  the  advantage,  especially  in  those  commu 
nities  whose  energies  were  developed  by  the  aid  of  deba 
ting  societies. 

This  decision  was  hailed  with  acclamations,  and  as  soon 
as  the  question  for  the  ensuing  debate,  '  which  is  the  more 
useful  animal,  the  ox  or  the  ass  ?'  was  announced,  Miss 
Eloise  Fidler  returned  home  to  rave  of  the  elegant  young 
man  who  sat  on  the  barrel,  whom  she  had  decided  to  be 
one  of  *  Nature's  aristocracy/  and  whom  she  had  discov 
ered  to  bear  the  splendid  appellative  of  Dacre.  'Edward 
Dacre,'  said  she,  '  for  I  heard  the  rude  creature  Jenkins 
call  him  Ed.' 

The  next  morning  witnessed  another  departure  from 
Miss  Fidler's  usual  habits.  She  proposed  a  walk;  and 
observed  that  she  had  never  yet  bought  an  article  at  the 
store,  and  really  felt  as  if  she  ought  to  purchase  some 
thing.  Mrs.  Rivers  chancing  to  be  somewhat  occupied, 
Miss  Fidler  did  me  the  honor  of  a  call,  as  she  could  not 
think  of  walking  without  a  chaperon. 

Behind  the  counter  at  Skinner's  I  saw  for  the  first  time 
a  spruce  clerk,  a  really  well-looking  young  man,  who  made 
his  very  best  bow  to  Miss  Fidler,  and  served  us  with 
much  assiduity.  The  young  lady's  purchases  occupied 
some  time,  and  I  was  obliged  gently  to  hint  home-affairs 
before  she  could  decide  between  two  pieces  of  muslin, 


WHO'LL    FOLLOW  ?  167 

which  she  declared  to  be  so  nearly  alike,  that  it  was 
almost  impossible  to  say  which  was  the  best. 

When  we  were  at  length  on  our  return,  I  was  closely 
questioned  as  to  my  knowledge  of  '  that  gentleman/  and 
on  my  observing  that  he  seemed  to  be  a  very  decent 
young  man,  Miss  Fidler  warmly  justified  him  from  any 
such  opinion,  and  after  a  glowing  eulogium  on  his  fine 
countenance,  his  elegant  manners  and  his  grace  as  a 
debater,  concluded  by  informing  me,  as  if  to  cap  the 
climax,  that  his  name  was  Edward  Dacre. 

I  had  thought  no  more  of  the  matter  for  some  time, 
though  I  knew  Mr.  Dacre  had  become  a  frequent  visitor 
at  Mr.  Rivers',  when  Mrs.  Rivers  came  to  me  one  morning 
with  a  perplexed  brow,  and  confided  to  me  her  sisterly 
fears  that  Eloise  was  about  to  make  a  fool  of  herself,  as 
she  had  done  more  than  once  before. 

*  My    father,'    she   said,    '  hoped  in  this  remote    corner 
of  creation  Eloise  might  forget  her  nonsense   and  act  like 
other  people ;   but  I  verily  believe  she  is  bent  upon  en 
couraging  this  low  fellow,  whose  principal   charm  in  her 
bewildered  eyes  is  his  name.' 

*  His  name  ?'  said  I,  '  pray  explain  ;'  for  I  had  not  then 
learned  all  the    boundless    absurdity  of  this  new    Cheru- 
bina's  fancies. 

'Edward  Dacre  !'  said  my  friend,  'this  is  what  enchants 
my  sister,  who  is  absolutely  mad  on  the  subject  of  her 
own  homely  appellation.' 

'  O,  is  that  all?'  said  I,  'send  her  to  me,  then;  and 
I  engage  to  dismiss  her  cured.' 

And  Miss  Fidler  came  to  spend  the  day.  We  talked 
of  all  novels  without  exception,  and  all  poetry  of  all  maga 
zines,  and  Miss  Fidler  asked  me  if  I  had  read  the  '  Youns? 


168  ANEW    HOME, 

Duke.*  Upon  my  confessing  as  much,  she  asked  my 
opinion  of  the  heroine,  and  then  if  I  had  ever  heard  so 
sweet  a  name.  'May  Dacre — May  Dacre,'  she  repeated, 
as  if  to  solace  her  delighted  ears. 

'  Only  think  how  such  names  are  murdered  in  this 
country,'  said  I,  tossing  carelessly  before  her  an  account 
of  Mr.  Skinner,  which  bore  'Edkins  Daker'  below  the 
receipt.  I  never  saw  a  change  equal  to  that  which  seemed 
to  '  come  o'er  the  spirit  of  her  dream.'  I  went  on  with  my 
citations  of  murdered  names,  telling  how  Rodgers  was 
turned  into  Rudgers,  Conway  into  Coniway,  and  Montague 
into  Montaig,  but  poor  Miss  Fidler  was  no  longer  in  talk 
ing  mood  ;  and  long  before  the  day  was  out,  she  com 
plained  of  a  head -ache  and  returned  to  her  sister's.  Mr. 
Daker  found  her  'not  at  home'  that  evening;  and  when 
I  called  next  morning,  the  young  lady  was  in  bed,  steep 
ing  her  long  ringlets  in  tears,  real  tears. 

To  hasten  to  the  catastrophe:  it  was  discovered  ere 
long  that  Mr.  Edkin's  Daker's  handsome  face  and  really 
pleasant  manners,  had  fairly  vanquished  Miss  Fidler's 
romance,  and  she  had  responded  to  his  professions  of 
attachment  with  a  truth  and  sincerity,  which,  while  it 
vexed  her  family  inexpressibly,  seemed  to  me  to  atone 
for  all  her  follies.  Mr.  Daker's  prospects  were  by  no 
means  despicable,  since  a  small  capital  employed  in  mer 
chandize  in  Michigan,  is  very  apt  to  confer  upon  the  indus 
trious  and  fortunate  possessor  that  crowning  charm,  with 
out  which  handsome  faces,  and  even  handsome  names,  are 
quite  worthless  in  our  Western  eyes. 

Some  little  disparity  of  age  existed  between  Miss  Fidler 
and  her  adorer ;  but  this  was  conceded  by  all  to  be 
abundantly  made  up  by  the  superabounding  gentility  of  the 


WHO'LL    FOLLOW?  169 

lady ;  and  when  Mr.  Daker  returned  from  New  York  with 
his  new  stock  of  goods  and  his  stylish  bride,  I  thought  I 
had  seldom  seen  a  happier  or  better  mated  couple.  And 
at  this  present  writing,  I  do  not  believe  Eloise,  with  all  her 
whims,  would  exchange  her  very  nice  Edkins  for  the 
proudest  Dacre  of  the  British  Peerage. 


15 


170  A    NEW    HOME, 


CHAPTER    XXVIII. 

By  sports  like  these  are  all  their  cares  beguiled, 
The  sports  of  children  satisfy  the  child ; 
Each  nobler  aim,  repressed  by  long  control, 
Now  sinks  at  last,  or  feebly  mans  the  soul; 
While  low  delights  succeeding  fast  behind, 
111  happier  meanness  occupy  the  mind. 

GOLDSMITH— TRAVELLER. 

THERE  is  in  our  vicinity  one  class  of  settlers  whose  con 
dition  has  always  been  inexplicable  to  me.  They  seem  to 
work  hard,  to  dress  wretchedly,  and  to  live  in  the  most 
uncomfortable  style  in  all  respects,  apparently  denying 
themselves  and  their  families  every  thing  beyond  the  abso 
lute  necessaries  of  life.  They  complain  most  bitterly  of 
poverty.  They  perform  the  severe  labor  which  is  shunned 
by  their  neighbors ;  they  purchase  the  coarsest  food,  and 
are  not  too  proud  to  ask  for  an  old  coat  or  a  pair  of  cast 
boots,  though  it  is  always  with  the  peculiar  air  of  dignity 
and  'don't  care,'  which  is  characteristic  of  the  country. 

Yet  instead  of  increasing  their  means  by  these  penurious 
habits,  they  grow  poorer  every  day.  Their  dwellings  are 
more  and  more  out  of  repair.  There  are  more  and  more 
shingles  in  the  windows,  (old  hats  and  red  petticoats  cannot 
be  spared,)  and  an  increasing  dearth  of  cows,  pigs,  and 
chickens.  The  daughters  go  to  service,  and  the  sons 
'  chore  round  '  for  every  body  and  any  body ;  and  even  the 
mamma,  the  centre  of  dignity,  is  fain  to  go  out  washing  T  y 
the  day. 


WHO'LL    FOLLOW?  171 

A  family  of  this  description  had  fallen  much  under  our 
notice.  The  father  and  his  stout  sons  had  performed  a 
good  deal  of  hard  work  in  our  service,  and  the  females  of 
the  family  had  been  employed  on  many  occasions  when 
'help'  was  scarce.  Many  requests  for  cast  articles,  or 
those  of  trifling  value  had  been  proffered  during  the  course 
of  our  acquaintance ;  and  in  several  attacks  of  illness,  such 
comforts  as  our  house  afforded  had  been  frequently  sought, 
though  no  visit  was  ever  requested. 

They  had  been  living  through  the  summer  in  a  shanty, 
built  against  a  sloping  bank,  with  a  fireplace  dug  in  the 
hill-side,  and  a  hole  pierced  through  the  turf  by  way  of 
chimney.  In  this  den  of  some  twelve  feet  square,  the 
whole  family  had  burrowed  since  April ;  but  in  October,  a 
log- house  of  the  ordinary  size  was  roofed  in,  and  though  it 
had  neither  door  nor  window,  nor  chimney,  nor  hearth, 
they  removed,  and  felt  much  elated  with  the  change. 
Something  like  a  door  was  soon  after  swinging  on  its 
leathern  hinges,  and  the  old  man  said  they  were  now  quite 
comfortable,  though  he  should  like  to  get  a  window ! 

The  first  intelligence  we  received  from  them  after  this, 
was  that  Mr.  Newland,  the  father,  was  dangerously  ill  with 
inflammation  of  the  lungs.  This  was  not  surprising,  for  a 
quilt  is  but  a  poor  substitute  for  a  window  during  a 
Michigan  November.  A  window  was  supplied,  and  such 
alleviations  as  might  be  collected,  were  contributed  by 
several  of  the  neighbors.  The  old  man  lingered  on,  much 
to  my  surprise,  and  after  two  or  three  weeks  we  heard  that 
he  was  better,  and  would  be  able  to  '  kick  round '  pretty 
soon. 

It  was  not  long  after  that  we  were  enjoying  the  fine 
sleighing,  which  is  usually  so  short-lived  in  this  lakey 


172  A    NEW    HOME, 

region.  The  roads  were  not  yet  much  beaten,  and  we  had 
small  choice  in  our  drives,  not  desiring  the  troublesome 
honor  of  leading  the  way.  It  so  happened  that  we  found 
ourselves  in  the  neighborhood  of  Mr.  Newland's  clearing ; 
and  though  the  sun  was  low,  we  thought  we  might  stop  a 
moment  to  ask  how  the  old  man  did. 

We  drove  to  the  door,  and  so  noiseless  was  our  approach, 
guiltless  of  bells,  that  no  one  seemed  aware  of  our  coming. 
We  tapped,  and  heard  the  usual  reply,  '  Walk !'  which  I 
used  to  think  must  mean  'Walk  off/ 

I  opened  the  door  very  softly,  fearing  to  disturb  the  sick 
man;  but  I  found  this  caution  quite  mal -apropos.  Mrs. 
Newland  was  evidently  in  high  holiday  trim.  The  quilts 
had  been  removed  from  their  stations  round  the  bed,  and 
the  old  man,  shrunken  and  miserable-looking  enough,  sat 
on  a  chair  in  the  corner.  The  whole  apartment  bore  the 
marks  of  expected  hilarity.  The  logs  overhead  were 
completely  shrouded  by  broad  hemlock  boughs  fastened 
against  them ;  and  evergreens  of  various  kinds  were  dis 
posed  in  all  directions,  while  three  tall  slender  candles,  with 
the  usual  potato  supporters,  were  placed  on  the  cupboard 
shelf. 

On  the  table,  a  cloth  seemed  to  cover  a  variety  of 
refreshments;  and  in  front  of  this  cloth  stood  a  tin  pail, 
nearly  full  of  a  liquid  whose  odor  was  but  too  discernible ; 
and  on  the  whiskey,  for  such  it  seemed,  swam  a  small  tin 
cup.  But  I  forget  the  more  striking  part  of  the  picture, 
the  sons  and  daughters  of  the  house.  The  former  flaming 
in  green  stocks  and  scarlet  watch-guards,  while  the  cut  of 
their  long  dangling  coats  showed  that  whoever  they 
might  once  have  fitted,  they  were  now  exceedingly  out  of 
place ;  the  latter  decked  in  tawdry,  dirty  finery,  and  wear- 


WHO'LL    FOLLOW?  1*73 

ing  any  look  but  that  of  the  modest  country  maiden,  who, 
'  in  choosing  her  garments,  counts  no  bravery  in  the  world 
like  decency.' 

The  eldest  girl,  Amelia,  who  had  lived  with  me  at  one 
time,  had  been  lately  at  a  hotel  in  a  large  village  at  some 
distance,  and  had  returned  but  a  short  time  before,  not 
improved  either  in  manners  or  reputation.  Her  tall  com 
manding  person  was  arrayed  in  far  better  taste  than  her 
sisters',  and  by  contrast  with  the  place  and  circumstances, 
she  wore  really  a  splendid  air.  Her  dress  was  of  rich  silk, 
made  in  the  extreme  mode,  and  set  off  by  elegant  jewelry. 
Her  black  locks  were  dressed  with  scarlet  berries ;  most 
elaborate  pendants  of  wrought  gold  hung  almost  to  her 
shoulders ;  and  above  her  glittering  basilisk  eyes,  was  a 
gold  chain  with  a  handsome  clasp  of  cut  coral.  The  large 
hands  were  covered  with  elegant  gloves,  and  an  em 
broidered  handkerchief  was  carefully  arranged  in  her  lap. 

I  have  attempted  to  give  some  idea  of  the  appearance  of 
things  in  this  wretched  log-hut,  but  I  cannot  pretend  to 
paint  the  confusion  into  which  our  ill-timed  visit  threw  the 
family,  who  had  always  appeared  before  us  in  such  differ 
ent  characters.  The  mother  asked  us  to  sit  down,  how 
ever,  and  Mr.  Newland  muttered  something,  from  which  I 
gathered,  that  '  the  girls  thought  they  must  have  a  kind  of 
a  house- warmin  like.' 

We  made  our  visit  very  short,  of  course ;  but  before  we 
could  make  our  escape,  an  old  fellow  came  in  with  a  violin, 
and  an  ox-sled  approached  the  door,  loaded  with  young 
people  of  both  sexes,  who  were  all  '  spilt '  into  the  deep 
snow,  by  a  'mistake  on  purpose'  of  the  driver.  In  the 
scramble  which  ensued,  we  took  leave ;  wondering  no 
longer  at  the  destitution  of  the  Newlands,  or  of  the  other 
15* 


174  A    NEW    HOME, 

families  of  the  same  class,  whose  young  people  we  had 
recognized  in  the  melee. 

The  Newland  family  did  not  visit  us  as  usual  after  this. 
There  was  a  certain  consciousness  in  their  appearance  when 
we  met,  and  the  old  man  more  than  once  alluded  to  our 
accidental  discovery  with  evident  uneasiness.  He  was  a 
person  not  devoid  of  shrewdness,  and  he  was  aware  that 
the  utter  discrepancy  between  his  complaints  and  the 
appearances  we  had  witnessed,  had  given  us  but  slight 
opinion  of  his  veracity ;  and  for  some  time  we  were  almost 
strangers  to  each  other. 

How  I  was  surprised  some  two  months  after  at  being 
called  out  of  bed  by  a  most  urgent  message  from  Mrs. 
Newland,  that  Amelia,  her  eldest  daughter,  was  dying  ! 
The  messenger  could  give  no  account  of  her  condition,  but 
that  she  was  now  in  convulsions,  and  her  mother  despairing 
of  her  life. 

I  lost  not  a  moment,  but  the  way  was  long,  and  ere  I 
entered  the  house,  the  shrieks  of  the  mother  and  her 
children,  told  me  I  had  come  too  late.  Struck  with  horror 
I  almost  hesitated  whether  to  proceed,  but  the  door  was 
opened,  and  I  went  in.  Two  or  three  neighbors  with 
terrified  countenances  stood  near  the  bed,  and  on  it  lay  the 
remains  of  the  poor  girl,  swollen  and  discolored,  and 
already  so  changed  in  appearance  that  I  should  not  have 
recognized  it  elsewhere. 

I  asked  for  particulars,  but  the  person,  whom  I  addressed, 
shook  her  head  and  declined  answering;  and  there  was 
altogether  an  air  of  horror  and  mystery  which  I  Avas 
entirely  unable  to  understand.  Mrs.  Newland,  in  her 
lamentations,  alluded  to  the  suddenness  of  the  blow,  and 
when  I  saw  her  a  little  calmed,  I  begged  to  know  how  long 


WHO'LL    FOLLOW?  175 

Amelia  had  been  ill,  expressing  my  surprise  that  I  had 
heard  nothing  of  it.  She  turned  upon  me  as  if  I  had  stung 
her. 

'  What,  you  Ve  heard  their  lies  too,  have  ye  ?'  she  ex 
claimed  fiercely,  and  she  cursed  in  no  measured  terms 
those  who  meddled  with  what  did  not  concern  them.  I 
felt  much  shocked  ;  and  disclaiming  all  intention  of  wound 
ing  her  feelings,  I  offered  the  needful  aid,  and,  when  all 
was  finished,  returned  home  uninformed  as  to  the  manner 
of  Amelia  Newland's  death. 

Yet  I  could  not  avoid  noticing  that  all  was  not  right. 

Oft  have  I  seen  a  timely-parted  ghost 

Of  ashy  semblance,  meagre,  pale  and  bloodless 

but  the  whole  appearance  of  this  sad  wreck  was  quite 
different  from  that  of  any  corpse  I  had  ever  viewed  before. 
Nothing  was  done,  but  much  said  or  hinted  on  all  sides. 
Rumor  was  busy  as  usual;  and  I  have  been  assured  by 
those  who  ought  to  have  warrant  for  their  assertions,  that 
this  was  but  one  fatal  instance  out  of  the  many  cases, 
wherein  life  was  perilled  in  the  desperate  effort  to  elude  the 
'  slow,  unmoving  finger  '  of  public  scorn. 

That  the  class  of  settlers  to  which  the  Newlands  belong, 
a  class  but  too  numerous  in  Michigan,  is  a  vicious  and 
degraded  one,  I  cannot  doubt :  but  whether  the  charge  to 
which  I  have  but  alluded,  is  in  any  degree  just,  I  am 
unable  to  determine.  I  can  only  repeat,  '  I  say  the  tale  as 
'twas  said  to  me/  and  I  may  add  that  more  than  one 
instance  of  a  similar  kind,  though  with  results  less  evidently 
fatal,  has  since  come  under  my  knowledge. 

The  Newlands  have  since  left  this  part  of  the  country, 
driving  off  with  their  own,  as  many  of  their  neighbors' 
cattle  and  hogs  as  they  could  persuade  to  accompany 


!76  ANBWHOMB, 

them;  and  not  forgetting  one  of  the  train  of  fierce  dogs 
which  have  not  only  shown  ample  sagacity  in  getting  their 
own  living,  but,  '  gin  a'  tales  be  true/  assisted  in  supporting 
the  family  by  their  habits  of  nightly  prowling. 

I  passed  by  their  deserted  dwelling.  They  had  carried 
off  the  door  and  window,  and  some  boys  were  busy  pulling 
the  shingles  from  the  roof  to  make  quail-traps.  I  trust  we 
have  few  such  neighbors  left.  Texas  and  the  Canada  war 
have  done  much  for  us  in  this  way ;  and  the  wide  west  is 
rapidly  draughting  off  those  whom  we  shall  regret  as  little 
as  the  Kewlands. 


WHO'LL    FOLLOW?  177 


CHAPTER   XXIX. 

Something  that  mellows  and  that  glorifies, 
Ev'n  like  the  soft  and  spiritual  glow 
Kindling  rich  woods  whereon  th'  etherial  bow 
lovingly  the  while. 


Swift  and  high 
The  arrowy  pillars  of  the  fire-light  grew. 

MRS.  HEMANS. 

As  I  have  never  made  any  remarkable  progress  in  the 
heights  and  depths  of  meteorolog}'-,  I  am  unable  to  speak 
with  confidence  as  to  the  concatenation  of  causes  which  may 
withhold  from  this  fertile  peninsula  the  treasure  of  the 
clouds,  in  the  early  spring-time,  when  our  land  elsewhere 
is  saturated  even  to  repletion  with  the  '  milky  nutriment/ 
In  plain  terms,  I  cannot  tell  any  thing  about  the  reason 
why  we  have  such  dry  Springs  in  Michigan,  I  can  only 
advert  to  the  fact  as  occasioning  scenes  rather  striking  to 
the  new  comer. 

In  April,  instead  of  the  '  misty-moisty  morning,'  which 
proverbially  heralds  the  '  uncertain  glory '  of  the  day  in 
that  much  belied  month,  the  sun,  day  after  day,  and  week 
after  week,  shows  his  jolly  red  face,  at  the  proper  hour, 
little  by  little  above  the  horizon,  casting  a  scarlet  glory  on 
the  leafless  trees,  and  investing  the  well-piled  brush-heaps 
with  a  burning  splendor  before  their  time.  Now  and  then 
a  brisk  shower  occurs,  but  it  is  short-lived,  and  not  very 
abundant ;  and  after  being  here  through  a  season  or  two, 
one  begins  to  wonder  that  the  soil  is  so  fertile.  My  own 


178  A    NEW    HOME, 

private  theory  is,  that  when  the  peninsula  was  covered  with 
water,  as  it  doubtless  was  before  the  Niagara  met  with  such 
a  fall,  the  porous  mass  became  so  thoroughly  soaked,  that 
the  sun  performs  the  office  of  rain,  by  drawing  from  below 
to  the  rich  surface,  the  supplies  of  moisture  which,  under 
ordinary  circumstances,  are  necessarily  furnished  from  aerial 
reservoirs,  Such  are  my  views,  which  I  offer  with  the 
diffidence  becoming  a  tyro  ;  but  at  the  same  time  avowing 
frankly  that  I  shall  not  even  consider  an  opposing  hypo 
thesis,  until  my  antagonist  shall  have  traversed  the  entire 
state,  and  counted  the  marshes  and  cat-holes  from  which  I 
triumphantly  draw  my  conclusion. 

Leaving  this  question  then,  I  will  make  an  effort  to 
regain  the  floating  end  of  my  broken  thread.  These 
exceedingly  dry  Spring-times — all  sun  and  a  very  little 
east- wind — leave  every  tree,  bush,  brier,  and  blade  of  grass, 
dry  as  new  tinder.  They  are  as  combustible  as  the  heart 
of  a  sophomore ;  as  ready  for  a  blaze  as  a  conclave  of 
ancient  ladies  who  have  swallowed  the  first  cup  of  hyson, 
and  only  wait  one  single  word  to  begin. 

At  this  very  suitable  time,  it  is  one  of  the  customs  of  the 
country  for  every  man  that  has  an  acre  of  marsh,  to  burn 
it  over,  in  order  to  prepare  for  a  new  crop  of  grass  ;  and  a 
handful  of  fire  thus  applied,  wants  but  a  cap-full  of  wind, 
to  send  it  miles  in  any  or  all  directions.  The  decayed 
trees,  and  those  which  may  have  been  some  time  felled, 
catch  the  swift  destruction,  and  aid  the  roaring  flame  ;  and 
while  the  earth  seems  covered  with  writhing  serpents  of 
living  fire,  ever  and  anon  an  undulating  pyramid  flares 
wildly  upward,  as  if  threatening  the  very  skies,  only  to  fall 
the  next  moment  in  crashing  fragments,  which  serve  to 
further  the  spreading  ruin. 


WHO'LL    FOLLOW?  179 

These  scenes  have  a  terrible  splendor  by  night ;  but  the 
effect  by  day  is  particularly  curious.  The  air  is  so  filled 
with  the  widely  diffused  smoke,  that  the  soft  sunshine  of 
April  is  mellowed  into  the  ruddy  glow  of  Autumn,  and  the 
mist  which  seems  to  hang  heavy  over  the  distant  hills  and 
woods,  completes  the  illusion.  One's  associations  are  those 
of  approaching  winter,  and  it  seems  really  a  solecism  to 
be  making  garden  under  such  a  sky.  But  this  is  not  all. 

We  were  all  busy  in  the  rough,  pole-fenced  acre,  which 
we  had  begun  to  call  our  garden ; — one  with  a  spade, 
another  with  a  hoe  or  rake,  and  the  least  useful, — videlicet, 
I? — with  a  trowel  and  a  paper  of  celery -seed,  when  a  rough 
neighbor  of  ours  shouted  over  the  fence  : 

'  What  be  you  a  potterin  there  for  ?  You  'd  a  plaguy 
sight  better  be  a  fighting  fire,  /  tell  ye  !  The  winfl  is  this 
way,  and  that  fire  '11  be  on  your  hay-stacks  in  less  than  no 
time,  if  you  do  n't  mind.' 

Thus  warned,  we  gazed  at  the  dark  smoke  which  had 
been  wavering  over  the  north-west  all  day,  and  saw  that  it 
had  indeed  made  fearful  advances.  But  two  well-travelled 
roads  still  lay  between  us  and  the  burning  marshes,  and 
these  generally  prove  tolerably  effectual  barriers  when  the 
wind  is  low.  So  our  operatives  took  their  way  toward  the 
scene  of  action,  carrying  with  them  the  gardening  imple 
ments,  as  the  most  efficient  weapons  in  '  fighting  fire.' 

They  had  to  walk  a  long  distance,  but  the  fire  was  very 
obliging  and  advanced  more  than  two  steps  to  meet  them. 
In  short,  the  first  barrier  was  overleapt  before  they  reached 
the  second,  and  the  air  had  become  so  heated  that  they 
could  only  use  the  hoes  and  spades  in  widening  the  road 
nearest  our  dwelling,  by  scraping  away  the  leaves  and 
bushes  ;  and  even  there  they  found  it  necessary  to  retreat 


180  A    NEW    HOME 

more  rapidly  than  was  consistent  with  a  thorough  perform 
ance  of  the  work.  The  winds,  though  light,  favored  the 
destroyer,  and  the  more  experienced  of  the  neighbors,  who 
had  turned  out  for  the  general  good,  declared  there  was 
nothing  now  but  to  make  a  '  back-fire  !'  So  homeward  all 
ran,  and  set  about  kindling  an  opposing  serpent  which 
should  '  swallow  up  the  rest ;'  but  it  proved  too  late.  The 
flames  only  reached  our  stable  and  haystacks  the  sooner, 
and  all  that  we  could  now  accomplish  was  to  preserve  the 
cottage  and  its  immediate  appurtenances. 

I  scarce  remember  a  blanker  hour.  I  could  not  be  glad 
that  the  house  and  horses  were  safe,  so  vexed  did  I  feel  to 
think  that  a  rational  attention  to  the  advance  of  that  black 
threatening  column,  would  have  prevented  the  disaster.  I 
sat  gazing  out  of  the  back  window,  watching  the  gradual 
blackening  of  the  remains  of  our  stores  of  hay — scolding 
the  while  most  vehemently,  at  myself  and  every  body  else, 
for  having  been  so  stupidly  negligent ;  declaring  that  I 
should  not  take  the  slightest  interest  in  the  garden  which 
had  so  engrossed  us,  and  wishing  most  heartily  that  the 
fellow  who  set  the  marsh  on  fire,  could  be  detected  and 
fined  'not  more  than  one  thousand  dollars,'  as  the  law 
directs ;  when  our  neighbor,  long  Sam  Jennings,  the 
slowest  talker  in  Michigan,  came  sauntering  across  the 
yard  with  his  rusty  fowling-piece  on  his  shoulder,  and 
drawled  out — 

*  I  should  think  your  dam  was  broke  some ;  I  see  the 
water  in  the  creek  look  dreadful  muddy.'  And  while  Sam 
took  his  leisurely  way  to  the  woods,  the  tired  fire -fighters 
raced,  one  and  all,  to  the  dam,  where  they  found  the 
water  pouring  through  a  hole  near  the  head  gate,  at  a  rate 


WHO'LL     FOLLOW?  181 

which  seemed  likely  to  carry  off  the  entire  structure  in  a 
very  short  time. 

But  I  have  purposely  refrained  from  troubling  the 
reader  with  a  detail  of  any  of  the  various  accidents  which 
attended  our  own  particular  debut,  in  the  backwoods. 
I  mentioned  the  fire  because  it  is  an  annual  occurrence 
throughout  the  country,  and  often  consumes  wheat-stacks, 
and  even  solitary  dwellings ;  and  I  was  drawn  in  to  record 
the  first  breach  in  the  mill-dam,  as  occurring  on  the  very 
day  of  the  disaster  by  fire. 

I  shall  spare  my  friends  any  account  of  the  many 
troubles  and  vexatious  delays  attendant  on  repairing  that 
necessary  evil,  the  dam ;  and  even  a  transcript  of  the  three 
astounding  figures  which  footed  the  account  of  expenses 
on  the  occasion.  I  shall  only  observe,  that  if  long  Sam 
Jennings  did  not  get  a  ducking  for  not  giving  intelligence 
of  the  impending  evil  a  full  half- hour  before  it  suited  his 
convenience  to  stroll  our  way,  it  was  not  because  he  did 
not  richly  deserve  it — and  so  I  close  my  chapter  of 
accidents. 


16 


182  A    NEW   HOME, 


CHAPTER    XXX. 

Qu'aifoublie  ?  dere  is  some  simples  in  my  closet,  dat  I  vill  not  for  de  varld 
1  shall  leave  behind. 

******** 
Skal.    The  Council  shall  hear  it ;  it  is  a  riot. 

Evans.  It  is  petter  that  friends  is  the  sword,  and  end  it;  and  there  is  an 
other  device  in  my  prain  which,  peradventure,  prings  good  discretions  with  it. 
We  will  afterwards  'ork  upon  the  cause  with  as  great  discreetly  as  we  can. 

MERRY  WIVES  OF  WINDSOR. 

'  AH  !  who  can  tell  how  hard  it  is  to  '  say any  thing 

about  an  unpretending  village  like  ours,  in  terms  suited 
to  the  delicate  organization  of  '  ears  polite/  How  can 
one  hope  to  find  any  thing  of  interest  about  such  common 
place  people  ?  Where  is  the  aristocratic  distinction  which 
makes  the  kind  visit  of  the  great  lady  at  the  sick-bed 
of  suffering  indigence  so  great  a  favor,  that  all  the  inmates 
of  the  cottage  behave  picturesquely  out  of  gratitude — form 
themselves  into  tableaux,  and  make  speeches  worth  record 
ing  ?  Here  are  neither  great  ladies  nor  humble  cotta 
gers.  I  cannot  bring  to  my  aid  either  the  exquisite 
boudoir  of  the  one  class,  with  its  captivating  bijouterie- -its, 
velvet  couches  and  its  draperies  of  rose-colored  satin,  so 
becoming  to  the  complexions  of  one's  young-lady  charac 
ters — nor  yet  the  cot  of  the  other  more  simple  but  not  less 
elegant,  surrounded  with  clustering  eglantine  and  clematis, 
and  inhabited  by  goodness,  grace  and  beauty.  These 
materials  are  denied  me ;  but  yet  I  must  try  to  describe 
something  of  Michigan  cottage  life,  taking  care  to  avail 


WHO'LL    FO  LLOW?  183 

myself  of  such  delicate  periphrasis  as  may  best  veil  the 
true  homeliness  of  my  subject. 

Moonlight  and  the  ague  are,  however,  the  same  every 
where.  At  least  I  meet  with  no  description  in  any  of  the 
poets  of  my  acquaintance  which  might  not  be  applied, 
without  reservation,  to  Michigan  moonlight ;  and  as  for 
the  ague,  did  not  great  Caesar  shake  when  'the  fit  was 
on  him  ?' 

'T  is  true,  this  god  did  shake : 

His  coward  lips  did  from  their  color  fly 

And  in  this  important  particular  poor  Lorenzo  Titmouse 
was  just  like  the  inventor  of  the  laurel  crown.  We — 
Mrs.  Rivers  and  I — went  to  his  father's,  at  his  urgent 
request,  on  just  such  a  night  as  is  usually  chosen  for 
romantic  walks  by  a  certain  class  of  lovers.  We  waited 
not  for  escort,  although  the  night  had  already  fallen,  and 
there  was  a  narrow  strip  of  forest  to  pass  in  our  way ; 
but,  leaving  word  whither  we  had  gone,  we  accompanied 
the  poor  shivering  boy,  each  carrying  what  we  could. 
And  what  does  the  gentle  reader  think  we  carried?  A 
custard  or  a  glass  of  jelly  each  perhaps,  and  a  nice  sponge 
cake,  or  something  equally  delicate,  and  likely  to  tempt 
the  faint  appetite  of  the  invalid.  No  such  thing.  We 
had  learned  better  than  to  offer  such  nick-nacks  to  people 
who  '  a'n't  used  to  sweetnin.'  My  companion  was  '  doubly 
arm'd :'  a  small  tin  pail  of  cranberry  sauce  in  one  hand, 
a  bottle  of  vinegar  in  the  other.  I  carried  a  modicum 
of  '  hop  'east,'  and  a  little  bag  of  crackers  ;  a  scrap  of 
hyson,  and  a  box  of  quinine  pills.  Odd  enough ;  but  we 
had  been  at  such  places  before. 

We   had  a  delicious  walk;  though    poor  Lorenzo,  who 
had  a  bao-  of  flour  on  his  shoulders,  was  fain  to  rest  often. 


184  A    NEW    HOME, 

This  was  his  '  well  day,'  to  be  sure ;  but  he  had  had  some 
eight  or  ten  fits  of  ague,  enough  to  wither  anybody's  pith 
and  marrow,  as  those  will  say  who  have  tried  it.  That 
innate  politeness  which  young  rustics,  out  of  books  as  well 
as  in  them,  are  apt  to  exhibit  when  they  are  in  good 
humor,  made  Lorenzo  decline,  most  vehemently,  our  offers 
of  assistance.  But  we  at  length  fairly  took  his  bag  from 
him,  and  passing  a  stick  through  the  string,  carried  it 
between  us  ;  while  the  boy  disposed  of  our  various  small 
articles  by  the  aid  of  his  capacious  pockets.  And  a  short 
half  mile  from  the  bridge  brought  us  to  his  father's. 

It  was  an  ordinary  log-house,  but  quite  old  and  dilapi 
dated  :  the  great  open  chimney  occupying  most  of  one  end 
of  the  single  apartment,  and  two  double-beds  with  a 
trundle-bed,  the  other.  In  one  of  the  large  beds  lay  the 
father  and  the  eldest  son ;  in  the  other,  the  mother  and 
two  little  daughters,  all  ill  with  ague,  and  all  sad  and  silent, 
save  my  friend  Mrs.  Titmouse,  whose  untameable  tongue 
was  too  much  even  for  the  ague.  Mrs.  Titmouse  is  one 
of  those  fortunate  beings  who  can  talk  all  day  without 
saying  any  thing.  She  is  the  only  person  whom  I  have 
met  in  these  regions  who  appears  to  have  paid  her  devoirs 
at  Castle  Blarney. 

'  How  d'  ye  do,  ladies, — how  d'  ye  do  ?  Bless  my  soul ! 
if  ever  I  thought  to  be  catch'd  in  sitch  a  condition,  and 
by  sitch  grand  ladies  too !  Not  a  chair  for  you  to  sit  down 
on.  I  often  tell  Titmouse  that  we  live  jest  like  the  pigs ; 
but  he  ha'n't  no  ambition.  I  'm  sure  I  'm  under  a 
thousand  compliments  to  ye  for  coming  to  see  me.  We  're 
expecting  a  mother  of  his  'n  to  come  and  stay  with  us, 
but  she  ha'n't  come  yet — and  I  in  sitch  a  condition ;  can't 
show  ye  no  civility.  Do  set  down,  ladies,  if  you  can  set 


WHO'LL    FOLLOW?  185 

upon  a  chest — ladies  like  you.     I  'm  sure  I  'm  under  a 

thousand  compliments '   and  so  the  poor  soul  ran  'on 

till  she  was  fairly  out  of  breath,  in  spite  of  our  efforts 
to  out-talk  her  with  our  assurances  that  we  could  accom 
modate  ourselves  very  well,  and  could  stay  but  a  few 
minutes. 

'  And  now,  Mrs.  Titmouse,'  said  Mrs.  Rivers,  in  her 
sweet,  pleasant  voice,  '  tell  us  what  we  can  do  for  you  ?' 

'  Do  for  me !  0,  massy  !  0,  nothing,  I  thank  ye. 
There  a'n't  nothing  that  ladies  like  you  can  do  for  me.  We 
make  out  very  well,  and ' 

'  What  do  you  say  so  for  !'  growled  her  husband  from 
the  other  bed.  '.You  know  we  ha'n't  tasted  a  mouthful 
since  morning,  nor  had  n't  it,  and  I  sent  Lorenzo  my 
self  ' 

'  Well,  I  never  !'  responded  his  help-mate  ;  '  you  're 
always  doing  just  so :  troubling  people.  You  never  had 
no  ambition,  Titmouse  ;  you  know  I  always  said  so.  To  be 
sure,  we  ha'n't  had  no  tea  this  good  while,  and  tea  does 
taste  dreadful  good  when  a  body's  got  the  agur ;  and  my 
bread  is  gone,  and  I  ha'n't  been  able  to  set  no  emptins ; 
but ' 

Here  we  told  what  we  had  brought,  and  prepared  at 
once  to  make  some  bread ;  but  Mrs.  Titmouse  seemed 
quite  horrified,  and  insisted  upon  getting  out  of  bed,  though 
she  staggered,  and  would  have  fallen  if  we  had  not  sup 
ported  her  to  a  seat. 

'  Now  tell  me  where  the  water  is,  and  I  will  get  it 
myself,'  said  Mrs.  Rivers,  '  and  do  you  sit  still  and  see  how 
soon  I  will  make  a  loaf.' 

'  Water  !'   said  the  poor  soul ;  '  I  'm  afraid  we  have  not 
water  enough   to  make  a  loaf.     Mr.  Grimes  brought  us  a 
16* 


188  ANBWHOME, 

barrel  day  before  yesterday,  and  we  've  been  dreadful 
careful  of  it,  but  the  agur  is  so  dreadful  thirsty — I  'm 
afraid  there  aVt  none.' 

*  Have  you  no  spring  ?' 

'No  ma'am;  but  we  have  always  got  plenty  of  water 
down  by  the  mash  till  this  dry  summer.' 

'  I  should  think  that  was  enough  to  give  you  the  ague. 
Do  n't  you  think  the  marsh  water  unwholesome  ?' 

'  Well,  I  do  n't  know  but  it  is  ;  but  you  see  he  was 
always  a-going  to  dig  a  well ;  but  he  ha'n't  no  ambition, 
nor  never  had,  and  I  always  told  him  so.  And  as  to 
the  agur,  if  you  've  got  to  have  it,  why  you  can't  get 
clear  of  it.' 

There  was,  fortunately,  water  enough  left  in  the  barrel 
to  set  the  bread  and  half-fill  the  tea-kettle ;  and  we 
soon  made  a  little  blaze  with  sticks,  which  served  to  boil 
the  kettle  to  make  that  luxury  of  the  woods,  a  cup  of 
green  tea. 

Mrs.  Titmouse  did  not  need  the  tea  to  help  her  talking 
powers,  for  she  was  an  independent  talker,  whose  gush  of 
words  knew  no  ebb  nor  exhaustion. 

Alike  to  her  was  tide  or  time, 
Moonless  midnight  or  matin  prime. 

Her  few  remaining  teeth  chattered  no  faster  when  she 
had  the  ague  than  at  any  other  time.  The  stream  flow 
ed  on 

In  one  weak  washy  everlasting  flood. 

When  we  had  done  what  little  we  could,  and  were  about 
to  depart,  glad  to  escape  her  overwhelming  protestations 
of  eternal  gratitude,  her  husband  reminded  her  that  the 
cow  had  not  been  milked  since  the  evening  before,  when 
'  Miss  Grimes  had  been  there.'  Here  was  a  dilemma ! 


WHO'LL    FOLLOW?  187 

How  we  regretted  our  defective  education,  which  prevented 
our  rendering  so  simple  yet  so  necessary  a  service  to  the 
sick  poor. 

We  remembered  the  gentleman  who  did  not  know 
whether  he  could  read  Greek,  as  he  had  never  tried ;  and 
set  ourselves  resolutely  at  work  to  ascertain  our  powers  in 
the  milking  line. 

But  alas !  the  '  milky  mother  of  the  herd '  had  small 
respect  for  timid  and  useless  town  ladies. 

Crummie  kick'd,  and  Crummie  flounced, 
And  Crummie  whisk'd  her  tail. 

In  vain  did  Mrs.  Rivers  hold  the  pail  with  both  hands, 
while  I  essayed  the  arduous  task.  So  sure  as  I  succeeded 
in  bringing  ever  so  tiny  a  stream,  the  ill-mannered  beast 
would  almost  put  out  my  eyes  with  her  tail,  and  oblige 
us  both  to  jump  up  and  run  away ;  and,  after  a  pro 
tracted  struggle,  the  cow  gained  the  victory,  as  might 
have  been  expected,  and  we  were  fain  to  retreat  into  the 
house. 

The  next  expedient  was  to  support  Mrs.  Titmouse  on  the 
little  bench,  while  she  tried  to  accomplish  the  mighty  work ; 
and  having  been  partially  successful  in  this,  we  at  length 
took  our  leave,  promising  aid  for  the  morrow,  and  hearing 
the  poor  woman's  tongue  at  intervals  till  we  were  far  in  the 
wood. 

'  Lord  bless  ye  !  I  'm  sure  I  'm  under  an  everlastin  com 
pliment  to  ye  ;  I  wish  I  know'd  how  I  could  pay  ye.  Such 
ladies  to  be  a  waitin  on  the  likes  of  me  ;  I  'm  sure  I  never 
see  nothin  like  it/  <fec.  <fec. 

And  now  we  began  to  wonder  how  long  it  would  be 
before  we  should  see  our  respected  spouses,  as  poor 
Lorenzo  had  fallen  exhausted  on  the  bed,  and  was  in  no 


188  A    NEW    HOME, 

condition  to  see  us  even  a  part  of  the  way  home.  The 
wood  was  very  dark,  though  we  could  see  glimpses  of  the 
mill-pond  lying  like  liquid  diamonds  in  the  moonlight. 

We  had  advanced  near  the  brow  of  the  hill  which 
descends  toward  the  pond,  when  strange  sounds  met  our 
ears.  Strange  sounds  for  our  peaceful  village !  Shouts 
and  howlings — eldrich  scream s- — Indian  yells — the  braying 
of  tin  horns,  and  the  violent  clashing  of  various  noisy 
articles. 

We  hurried  on,  and  soon  came  in  sight  of  a  crowd  of 
persons,  who  seemed  coming  from  the  village  to  the  pond. 
And  now  loud  talking,  threats — '  Duck  him  !  duck  the  im 
pudent  rascal !' — What  could  it  be  ? 

Here  was  a  mob  !  a  Montacute  mob  !  and  the  cause  ?  I 
believe  all  mobs  pretend  to  have  causes.  Could  the  choice 
spirits  have  caught  an  abolitionist  ?  which  they  thought,  as 
I  had  heard,  meant  nothing  less  than  a  monster. 

But  now  I  recollected  having  heard  that  a  ventriloquist, 
which  I  believe  most  of  our  citizens  considered  a  beast  of 
the  same  nature,  had  sent  notices  of  an  exhibition  for  the 
evening  ;  and  the  truth  flashed  upon  us  at  once. 

*  In  with  him !  in  with  him !'-  they  shouted  as  they 
approached  the  water,  just  as  we  began  to  descend  the  hill. 
And  then  the  clear  fine  voice  of  the  dealer  in  voice  was 
distinctly  audible  above  the  hideous  din 

'  Gentlemen,  I  have  warned  you ;  I  possess  the  means  of 
defending  myself,  you  will  force  me  to  use  them.' 

'  Stop  his  mouth,'  shouted  a  well-known  bully,  '  he  lies  ; 
he  ha'n't  got  nothing  !  in  with  him !'  and  a  violent  struggle 
followed,  some  few  of  our  sober  citizens  striving  to  protect 
the  stranger. 

One  word  to  Mrs.  Rivers,  and  we  set  up  a  united  shriek, 
a  screech  like  an  army  of  sea-gulls.  '  Help !  help  !'  and 


WHO'LL    FOLLOW?  189 

we  stopped  on  the  hill  side,  our  white  dresses  distinctly 
visible  in  the  clear,  dazzling  moonlight. 

We  '  stinted  not  nor  staid '  till  a  diversion  was  fairly 
effected.  A  dozen  forms  seceded  at  once  from  the  crowd, 
and  the  spirit  of  the  thing  was  at  an  end. 

We  waited  on  the  spot  where  our  artifice  began,  certain 
of  knowing  every  individual  who  should  approach  ;  and  the 
very  first  proved  those  we  most  wished  to  see.  And  now 
came  the  very  awkward  business  of  explaining  our  ruse, 
and  Mrs.  Rivers  was  rather  sharply  reproved  for  her  part 
of  it.  Harley  Rivers  was  not  the  man  to  object  to  any 
thing  like  a  lark,  and  he  had  only  attempted  to  effect  the 
release  of  the  ventriloquist,  after  Mr.  Clavers  had  joined 
him  on  the  way  to  Mr.  Titmouse's.  The  boobies  who  had 
been  most  active  in  the  outrage  would  fain  have  renewed 
the  sport ;  but  the  ventriloquist  had  wisely  taken  advantage 
of  our  diversion  in  his  favor,  and  was  no  where  to  be  found. 
The  person  at  whose  house  he  had  put  up  told  afterwards 
that  he  had  gone  out  with  loaded  pistols  in  his  pocket ;  so 
even  a  woman's  shrieks,  hated  of  gods  and  men,  may  some 
times  be  of  service. 

Montacute  is  far  above  mobbing  now.  This  was  the  first 
and  last  exhibition  of  the  spirit  of  the  age.  The  most 
mobbish  of  our  neighbors  have  flitted  westward,  seeking 
more  congenial  association.  I  trust  they  may  be  so  well 
satisfied,  that  they  will  not  think  of  returning ;  for  it  is  not 
pleasant  to  find  a  dead  pig  in  one's  well,  or  a  favorite  dog 
hung  up  at  the  gate-post ;  to  say  nothing  of  cows  milked 
on  the  marshes,  hen-roosts  rifled,  or  melon-patches  cleared 
in  the  course  of  the  night. 

We  learned  afterwards  the  'head  and  front*  of  the 
ventriloquist's  offence.  He  had  asked  twenty-five  cents 
a-head  for  the  admission  of  the  sovereign  people. 


190  ANEWHOME, 


CHAPTER  XXXI. 

Bah !  bah ! — not  a  bit  magic  in  it  at  all — not  a  bit.  It  is  all  founded  on  de  plane 
tary  influence,  and  de  sympathy  and  force  of  numbers.  I  will  show  you  much 
finer  dan  dis. 

ANTIQUARY. 

THE  very  next  intelligence  from  our  urban  rival  came 
in  the  shape  of  a  polite  note  to  Mr.  Clavers,  offering  him 
any  amount  of  stock  in  the  '  Merchants'  and  Manufacturer's 
Bank  of  Tinker ville.'  My  honored  spouse — I  acknowledge 
it  with  regret — is  any  thing  but  an  'enterprising  man.' 
But  our  neighbor,  Mr.  Rivers,  or  his  astute  father  for  him, 
thought  this  chance  for  turning  paper  into  gold  and  silver 
too  tempting  to  be  slighted,  and  entered  at  once  into  the 
business  of  making  money  on  a  large  scale. 

I  looked  at  first  upon  the  whole  matter  with  unfeigned 
indifference,  for  money  has  never  seemed  so  valueless  to  me 
as  since  I  have  experienced  how  little  it  will  buy  in  the 
woods ;  but  I  was  most  unpleasantly  surprised  when  I 
heard  that  Harley  Rivers,  the  husband  of  my  friend,  was  to 
be  exalted  to  the  office  of  President  of  the  new  bank. 

'Just  as  we  were  beginning  to  be  so  comfortable,  to 
think  you  should  leave  us,'  said  I  to  Mrs.  Rivers. 

'  0 !  dear,  no,'  she  replied ;  '  Harley  says  it  will  not  be 
necessary  for  us  to  remove  at  present.  The  business  can 
be  transacted  just  as  well  here,  and  we  shall  not  go  until 
the  banking-house  and  our  own  can  be  erected/ 

This  seemed  odd  to  a  novice  like  myself;  but  I  rejoiced 


WHO'LL    FOLLOW?  191 

that  arrangements  were  so  easily  made  which  would  allow 
me  to  retain  for  a  while  so  pleasant  a  companion. 

As  I  make  not  the  least  pretension  to  regularity,  but 
only  an  attempt  to  '  body  forth '  an  unvarnished  picture  of 
the  times,  I  may  as  well  proceed  in  this  place  to  give  the 
uninitiated  reader  so  much  of  the  history  of  the  Tinkerville 
Bank,  as  has  become  the  property  of  the  public ;  supposing 
that  the  effects  of  our  «  General  Banking  Law  '  may  not  be 
as  familiarly  known  elsewhere  as  they  unfortunately  are  in 
this  vicinity. 

When  our  speculators  in  land  found  that  the  glamour 
had  departed,  that  the  community  had  seen  the  ridicule"  of 
the  delusion  which  had  so  long  made 

The  cobwebs  on  a  cottage  wall 

Seem  tapestry  in  lordly  hall; 

A  nutshell  seem  a  gilded  barge, 

A  sheeling  seem  a  palace  large, 

And  youth  seem  age,  and  age  seem  youth, 

and  poverty  seem  riches,  and  idleness  industry,  and  fraud 
enterprise ;  some  of  these  cunning  magicians  set  themselves 
about  concocting  a  new  species  of  gramarye,  by  means  of 
which  the  millions  of  acres  of  wild  land  which  were  left  on 
their  hands  might  be  turned  into  bona  fide  cash — paper- 
cash  at  least,  to  meet  certain  times  of  payment  of  certain 
moneys  borrowed  at  certain  rates  of  interest  during  the 
fervor  of  the  speculating  mania.  The  '  General  Banking 
Law '  of  enviable  notoriety,  which  allowed  any  dozen  of 
men  who  could  pledge  real  estate  to  a  nominal  amount,  to 
assume  the  power  of  making  money  of  rags ;  this  was  the 
magic  cauldron,  whose  powers  were  destined  to  transmute 
these  acres  of  wood  and  meadow  into  splendid  metropolitan 
residences,  with  equipages  of  correspondiag  elegance.  It 
was  only  '  bubble-bubble/  and  burr-oaks  were  turned  into 


192  A    NEW    HOME, 

marble  tables,  tall  tamaracks  into  draperied  bedsteads, 
lakes  into  looking-glasses,  and  huge  expanses  of  wet  marsh 
into  velvet  couches,  and  carpets  from  '  the  looms  of  Agra 
and  of  Ind.' 

It  is  not  to  be  denied  that  this  necromantic  power  had 
its  limits.  Many  of  these  successful  wizards  seemed  after 
all  a  little  out  of  place  in  their  palaces  of  enchantment ; 
and  one  could  hardly  help  thinking,  that  some  of  them 
would  have  been  more  suitably  employed  in  tramping,  with 
cowhide  boot,  the  slippery  marshes  on  which  their  great 
ness  was  based,  than  in  treading  mincingly  the  piled 
carpets  which  were  the  magical  product  of  those  marshes. 
But  that  was  nobody's  business  but  their  own.  They  con 
sidered  themselves  as  fulfilling  their  destiny. 

Some  thirty  banks  or  more  were  the  fungous  growth  of 
the  new  political  hot-bed ;  and  many  of  these  were  of 
course  without  a  'local  habitation,'  though-  they  might 
boast  the  'name,'  it  may  be,  of  some  part  of  the  deep 
woods,  where  the  wild  cat  had  hitherto  been  the  most 
formidable  foe  to  the  unwary  and  defenceless.  Hence  the 
celebrated  term  '  Wild  Cat,'  justified  fully  by  the  course  of 
these  cunning  and  stealthy  bloodsuckers;  more  fatal  in 
their  treacherous  spring  than  ever  was  their  forest  proto 
type.  A  stout  farmer  might  hope  to  '  whip '  a  wild  cat  or 
two ;  but  once  in  the  grasp  of  a  '  wild  cat  bank,'  his 
struggles  were  unavailing.  Hopeless  ruin  has  been  the 
consequence  in  numerous  instances,  and  every  day  adds 
new  names  to  the  list. 

But  I  have  fallen  into  the  sin  of  generalizing,  instead  of 
journalizing,  as  I  promised.  The  interesting  nature  of 
the  subject  will  be  deemed  a  sufficient  justification,  by 
such  of  my  readers  as  may  have  enjoyed  the  pleasure  of 


WHO'LL    FOLLOW?  19? 

making  alumets  of  bank-notes,  as  so  many  Micliiganians 
have  done,  or  might  have  done  if  they  had  not  been  too 
angry. 

Of  the  locale  of  the  Merchants'  and  Manufacturers'  Bank 
of  Tinkerville,  I  have  already  attempted  to  give  some  faint 
idea ;  and  I  doubt  not  one  might  have  ridden  over  many  of 
the  new  banks  in  a  similar  manner,  without  suspecting  their 
existence.  The  rubicund  and  smooth-spoken  father-in-law 
of  my  friend  was  the  main-spring  of  the  institution  in 
question ;  and  his  son  Harley,  who  '  did  not  love  work,' 
was  placed  in  a  conspicuous  part  of  the  panorama  as  Presi 
dent.  I  thought  our  Caleb  Quotem  neighbor,  Mr.  Simeon 
Jenkins,  would  have  found  time  to  fulfil  the  duties  of 
cashier,  and  he  can  write  '  S.  Jenkins '  very  legibly ;  so 
there  would  have  been  no  objection  on  that  score :  but  it 
was  thought  prudent  to  give  the  office  to  a  Tinkervillian — a 
man  of  straw,  for  aught  I  know  to  the  contrary ;  for  all  I 
saw  or  heard  of  him  was  his  name,  '  A.  Bite,'  on  the  bills. 
A  fatal  mistake  this,  according  to  Mr.  Jenkins.  He  can 
demonstrate,  to  any  body  who  feels  an  interest  in  the  facts 
of  the  case,  that  the  bank  never  would  have  '  flatted  out,' 
if  he  had  had  a  finger  in  the  pie. 

Just  as  our  Wild  Cat  was  ready  for  a  spring,  the  only 
obstacle  in  her  path  was  removed  by  the  abolition  of  the 
old-fashioned-and-troublesome-but-now-exploded  plan  of 
specie  payments ;  and  our  neighbors  went  up  like  the  best 
rocket  from  Vauxhall.  The  Tinkerville  Astor  House,  the 
County  Offices,  the  Banking  House,  were  all  begun  simul 
taneously,  as  at  the  waving  of  a  wand  of  power.  Monta- 
cute  came  at  once  to  a  dead  stand;  for  not  a  workman 
could  be  had  for  love  or  flour.  Those  beautifully  engraved 
bills  were  too  much  for  the  public  spirit  of  most  of  us,  and 


194  A    NEW    HOME, 

we  forgot  our  Montacute  patriotism  for  a  time.  'Real 
estate  pledged ;'  of  course  the  notes  were  better  than  gold 
or  silver,  because  they  were  lighter  in  the  pocket. 

Time's  whirligig  went  round.  Meanwhile  &\\  was  pros 
perous  at  the  incipient  capital  of  our  rising  county.  Mr. 
President  Rivers  talked  much  of  removing  to  the  bank ; 
and  in  preparation,  sent  to  New  York  for  a  complete  outfit 
of  furniture,  and  a  pretty  carriage ;  while  Mrs.  Rivers 
astonished  the  natives  in  our  log  meeting-house,  and  the 
wood  chucks  in  our  forest  strolls,  by  a  Parisian  bonnet  of 
the  most  exquisite  rose-color,  her  husband's  taste.  Mr. 
Rivers  senior,  and  sundry  other  gentlemen,  some  ruddy- 
gilled  and  full-pocketed  like  himself,  others  looking  so  lean 
and  hungry,  that  I  wondered  any  body  would  trust  them 
in  a  bank — a  place  where,  as  I  supposed  in  my  greenness, 

In  bright  confusion  open  rouleaux  lie, 

made  frequent  and  closeted  sojourn  at  Montacute.  Our 
mill  whirred  merrily,  and  toll- wheat  is  a  currency  that 
never  depreciates ;  but  in  other  respects,  we  were  only 
moderately  prosperous.  Our  first  merchant,  Mr.  Skinner, 
did  not  clear  above  three  thousand  dollars  the  first  year. 
Slow  work  for  Michigan ;  and  somehow,  Mr.  Jenkins  was 
far  from  getting  rich  as  fast  as  he  expected. 

One  bright  morning,  as  I  stood  looking  down  Main 
street,  thinking  I  certainly  saw  a  deer's  tail  at  intervals 
flying  through  the  woods,  two  gentlemen  on  horseback 
rode  deliberately  into  town.  They  had  the  air  of  men  who 
were  on  serious  business ;  and  as  they  dismounted  at  the 
door  of  the  Montacute  House,  a  messenger  was  despatched 
in  an  instant  to  Mr.  Rivers.  Ere  long,  I  discovered  the 
ruddy  papa  wending  his  dignified  way  towards  the  Hotel, 
while  the  President,  on  his  famous  trotter  Greenhorn, 


WHO'LL    FOLLOW?  195 

emerged  from  the  back-gate,  and  cleared  the  ground  in  fine 
style  towards  Tinkerville. 

A  full  hour  elapsed  before  the  elder  Mr.  Rivers  was 
ready  to  accompany  the  gentlemen  on  their  ride.  He 
happened  to  be  going  that  way,  which  was  very  convenient, 
since  the  Bank  Commissioners,  for  our  portly  strangers 
were  none  other,  did  not  know  in  what  part  of  the  un- 
surveyed  lands  the  new  city  lay.  The  day  was  far  spent 
when  the  party  returned  to  take  tea  with  Mrs.  Rivers.  All 
seemed  in  high  good  humor.  The  examination  prescribed 
by  our  severe  laws  had  been  exceedingly  satisfactory.  The 
books  of  the  Bank  were  in  apple-pie  order.  Specie  certifi 
cates,  a  newly-invented  kind  of  gold  and  silver,  were 
abundant.  A  long  row  of  boxes,  which  contained  the 
sinews  of  peace  as  well  as  of  war,  had  been  viewed  and 
'  hefted '  by  the  Commissioners.  The  liabilities  seemed  as 
nothing  compared  with  the  resources ;  and  the  securities 
were  as  substantial  as  earth  and  stone  could  make  them. 

If  the  height  of  prosperity  could  have  been  heightened, 
Tinkerville  would  have  gone  on  faster  than  ever  after  this 
beneficent  visitation.  Mr.  Rivers'  new  furniture  arrived, 
and  passed  through  our  humble  village  in  triumphal  pro 
cession,  pile  after  pile  of  huge  boxes,  provokingly  im 
pervious  to  the  public  eye ;  and,  last  of  all,  the  new 
carriage,  covered  as  closely  from  the  vulgar  gaze  as  a 
celebrated  belle  whose  charms  are  on  the  wane.  The 
public  buildings  at  the  county  seat  were  proclaimed 
finished,  or  nearly  finished,  a  school-house  begun,  a  meet 
ing  house  talked  of ;  but  for  the  latter,  it  was  supposed  to 
be  too  early — rather  premature. 


196  A   NEW    HOME, 


CHAPTER   XXXII. 

And  whare  is  your  honors  gaun  the  day  wi'  a'  your  picks  and  shules  ? 

ANTIQUARY. 

On  peut  £tre  plus  fin  qu'un  autre,  maia  non  pas  plus  fin  que  tous  les  autres. 

ROCHEFOUCAULT. 

ALL  too  soon  came  the  period  when  I  must  part  with  my 
pleasant  neighbor  Mrs.  Rivers,  the  open  brilliancy  of  whose 
lot  seemed  to  threaten  a  lasting  separation,  from  those 
whose  way  led  rather  through  the  *  cool,  sequestered  vale/ 
so  much  praised  and  so  little  coveted. 

Mr.  Rivers  had  for  some  time  found  abundant  leisure  for 
his  favorite  occupations  of  hunting  and  fishing.  The  sign 
ing  of  bills  took  up  but  little  time,  and  an  occasional  ride  to 
the  scene  of  future  glories,  for  the  purpose  of  superintend 
ing  the  various  improvements,  was  all  that  had  necessarily 
called  him  away.  But  now,  final  preparations  for  a  re 
moval  were  absolutely  in  progress;  and  I  had  begun  to 
feel  really  sad  at  the  thought  of  losing  the  gentle  Anna, 
when  the  Bank  Commissioners  again  paced  in  official 
dignity  up  Main  street,  and,  this  time,  alighted  at  Mr. 
Rivers'  door. 

The  President  and  Greenhorn  had  trotted  to  Tinkerville 
that  morning,  and  the  old  gentleman  was  not  in  town ;  so 
our  men  of  power  gravely  wended  their  way  towards  the 
newly-painted  and  pine-pillared  honors  of  the  Merchants' 
and  Manufacturers'  Banking-house,  not  without  leaving 
behind  them  many  a  surmise  as  to  the  probable  object  of 
this  new  visitation. 


WHO'LL    FOL  LOW?  197 

It  was  Mr.  Skinner's  opinion,  and  Mr.  Skinner  is  a  long 
headed  Yankee,  that  the  Bank  had  issued  too  many  bills  ; 
and  for  the  sincerity  of  his  judgment,  he  referred  his  hear 
ers  to  the  fact  that  he  had  for  some  time  been  turning  the 
splendid  notes  of  the  Merchants'  and  Manufacturers'  Bank 
of  Tinkerville  into  wheat  and  corn  as  fast  as  he  conve 
niently  could. 

A  sly  old  farmer,  who  had  sold  several  hundred  bushels 
of  wheat  to  Mr.  Skinner,  at  one  dollar  twenty-five  cents 
a  bushel,  winked  knowingly  as  the  merchant  mentioned 
this  proof  of  his  own  farseeing  astuteness ;  and  informed 
the  company  that  he  had  paid  out  the  last  dollar  long  ago 
on  certain  outstanding  debts. 

Mr.  Porter  knew  that  the  Tinkerville  blacksmith  had 
run  up  a  most  unconscionable  bill  for  the  iron  doors,  &c. 
&c.,  which  were  necessary  to  secure  the  immense  vaults 
of  the  Bank ;  that  would  give,  as  he  presumed,  some  hint 
of  the  probable  object  of  the  Commissioners. 

Mr.  Simeon  Jenkins,  if  not  the  greatest,  certainly  the 
most  grandiloquent  man  in  Montacute,  did  n't  want  to 
know  any  better  than  he  did  know,  that  the  Cashier  of  the 
Bank  was  a  thick- skull ;  and  he  felt  very  much  afraid  that 
the  said  Cashier  had  been  getting  his  principals  into 
trouble.  Mr.  Bite's  manner  of  writing  his  name  was, 
in  Mr.  Jenkins'  view,  proof  positive  of  his  lack  of  capacity ; 
since  'nobody  in  the  universal  world,'  as  Mr.  Jenkins 
averred,  'ever  wrote  such  a  hand  as  that,  that  know'd 
anything  worth  knowing.' 

But  conjectures,  however  positively  advanced,  are,  after 
all,  not  quite  satisfactory ;  and  the  return  of  the  Commis 
sioners  was  most  anxiously  awaited  even  by  the  very  wor 
thies  who  knew  their  business  so  well. 
17* 


198  A    NEW    HOME, 

The  sun  set  most  perversely  soon,  and  the  light  would 
not  stay  long  after  him  ;  and  thick  darkness  settled  upon 
this  mundane  sphere,  and  no  word  transpired  from  Tinker- 
ville.  Morning  came,  and  with  it  the  men  of  office,  but, 
0  !  with  what  lengthened  faces  ! 

There  were  whispers  of  '  an  injunction  ' — horrid  sound ! 
upon  the  Merchants'  and  Manufacturers'  Bank  of  Tin- 
kerville. 

To  picture  the  dismay  which  drew  into  all  sorts  of 
shapes  the  universal  face  of  Montacute,  would  require  a 
dozen  Wilkies.  I  shall  content  myself  with  saying  that 
there  was  no  joking  about  the  matter. 

The  Commissioners  were  not  very  communicative ;  but 
in  spite  of  their  dignified  mystification,  something  about 
broken  glass  and  tenpenny  nails  did  leak  out  before  their 
track  was  fairly  cold. 

And  where  was  Harley  Rivers  ?  '  Echo  answers,  where  ?' 
His  dear  little  wife  watered  her  pillow  with  her  tears  for 
many  a  night  before  he  returned  to  Montacute. 

It  seemed,  as  we  afterwards  learned,  that  the  Commis 
sioners  had  seen  some  suspicious  circumstances  about  the 
management  of  the  Bank,  and  returned  with  a  determina 
tion  to  examine  into  matters  a  little  more  scrupulously. 
It  had  been  found  in  other  cases  that  certain  'specie 
certificates '  had  been  locomotive.  It  had  been  rumored, 
since  the  new  batch  of  Banks  had  come  into  operation,  that 

Thirty  steeds  both  fleet  and  wight 
Stood  saddled  in  the  stables  day  and  night- 
ready  to  effect  at  short  notice  certain  transfers  of  assets  and 
specie.     And  in  the  course  of  the  Tinkerville  investigation 
the  Commissioners  had  ascertained  by  the  aid  of  hammer 
and  chisel,  that  the  boxes  of  the  'real  stuff'   which  had 


WHO'LL    FOLLOW?  199 

been  so  loudly  vaunted,  contained  a  heavy  charge  of  broken 
glass  and  tenpenny  nails,  covered  above  and  below  with 
half-dollars,  principally  ' bogus'  Alas,  for  Tinker ville  !  and 
alas,  for  poor  Michigan  ! 

The  distress  among  the  poorer  classes  of  farmers  which 
was  the  immediate  consequence  of  this  and  other  Bank 
failures,  was  indescribable.  Those  who  have  seen  only 
a  city  panic,  can  form  no  idea  of  the  extent  and  severity 
of  the  sufferings  on  these  occasions.  And  how  many  small 
farmers  are  there  in  Michigan  who  have  not  suffered  from 
this  cause  ? 

The  only  adequate  punishment  which  I  should  prescribe 
for  this  class  of  heartless  adventurers,  would  be  to  behold 
at  one  glance  all  the  misery  they  have  occasioned ;  to  be 
gifted  with  an  Asmodean  power,  and  forced  to  use  it. 
The  hardiest  among  them,  could  scarcely,  I  think,  endure 
to  witness  the  unroofing  of  the  humble  log-huts  of  Michi 
gan,  after  the  bursting  of  one  of  these  Dead-sea  apples. 
Bitter  indeed  were  the  ashes  which  they  scattered ! 

How  many  settlers  who  came  in  from  the  deep  woods 
many  miles  distant  where  no  grain  had  yet  grown,  after 
travelling  perhaps  two  or  three  days  and  nights,  with  a 
half-starved  ox-team,  and  living  on  a  few  crusts  by  the 
way,  were  told  when  they  offered  their  splendid-looking 
bank-notes,  their  hard-earned  all,  for  the  flour  which  was 
to  be  the  sole  food  of  wife  and  babes  through  the  long 
winter,  that  these  hoarded  treasures  were  valueless  as  the 
ragged  paper  which  wrapped  them  !  Can  we  blame  them 
if  they  cursed  in  their  agony,  the  soul-less  wretches  who 
had  thus  drained  their  best  blood  for  the  furtherance  of 
their  own  schemes  of  low  ambition  ?  Can  we  wonder  that 


200  A    NEW    HOME, 

the  poor,  feeling  such  wrongs  as  these,  learn  to  hate  the 
rich,  and  to  fancy  them  natural  enemies  ? 

Could  one  of  these  heart-wrung  beings  have  been  intro 
duced,  just  as  he  was,  with  the  trembling  yet  in  his  heart, 
and  the  curses  on  his  lips,  into  the  gilded  saloon  of  his 
betrayer,  methinks  the  dance  would  have  nagged,  the  song 
wavered,  the  wine  palled,  for  the  moment  at  least. 

Light  is  the  dance  and  doubly  sweet  the  lays 
When  for  the  dear  delight  another  pays. 

But  the  uninvited  presence  of  the  involuntary  paymaster, 
would  have  been  *  the  hand  on  the  wall '  to  many  a  suc 
cessful  (!)  banker. 

After  public  indignation  had  in  some  measure  subsided, 
and  indeed  such  occurrences  as  I  have  described  became 
too  common  to  stir  the  surface  of  society  very  rudely,  Mr. 
Harley  Rivers  returned  to  Montacute,  and  prepared  at  once 
for  the  removal  of  his  family.  I  took  leave  of  his  wife  with 
most  sincere  regret,  and  I  felt  at  the  time  as  if  we  should 
never  meet  again.  But  I  have  heard  frequently  from  them 
until  quite  lately;  and  they  have  been  living  very  hand 
somely  (Mr.  Rivers  always  boasted  that  he  would  live  like 
a  gentleman)  in  one  of  the  Eastern  cities  on  the  spoils  of 
the  Tinkerville  Wild  Cat. 


WHO'LL     FOLLOW?  201 


CHAPTER    XXXIII. 

I  say  the  pulpit  (and  I  name  it  filled 

With  solemn  awe,  that  bids  me  well  beware 

With  what  intent  I  touch  that  holy  thing.) 

COWPER. 

ONE  of  the  greatest  deficiencies  and  disadvantages  of  the 
settler  in  the  new  world,  is  the  lack  of  the  ordinary  means 
of  public  religious  instruction.  This  is  felt,  not  only  when 
the  Sabbath  morn  recurs  without  its  call  for  public  worship, 
and  children  ask  longingly  for  that  mild  and  pleasing  form 
of  religious  and  moral  training,  to  which  they  are  all  attach 
ed  as  if  by  intuition  of  nature ;  but  it  makes  itself  but  too 
evident  throughout  the  entire  structure  and  condition  of 
society.  Those  who  consider  Religion  a  gloom  and  a 
burden,  have  only  to  reside  for  a  while  where  Religion  is 
habitually  forgotten  or  wilfully  set  aside.  They  will  soon 
learn  at  least  to  appreciate  the  practical  value  of  the 
injunction,  'Forsake  not  the  assembling  of  yourselves 
together.' 

We  have  never  indeed  been  entirely  destitute  for  any 
length  of  time  of  the  semblance  of  public  worship.  Preach 
ers  belonging  to  various  denominations  have,  from  the 
beginning,  occasionally  called  meetings  in  the  little  log 
school-house,  and  many  of  the  neighbors  always  make  a 
point  of  being  present,  although  a  far  greater  proportion 
reserve  the  Sunday  for  fishing  and  gunning.  And  it  must 
be  confessed  that  there  has  generally  been  but  little  that 


202  A    NEW    HOME, 

was  attractive  in  the  attempts  at  public  service.  A  bare 
cold  room,  the  wind  whistling  through  a  thousand  crevices 
in  the  unplastered  walls,  and  pouring  down  through  as 
many  more  in  the  shrunken  roof,  seats  formed  by  laying 
rough  boards  on  rougher  blocks,  and  the  whole  covered 
thick  with  the  week's  dirt  of  the  district  school ;  these  are 
scarcely  the  appliances  which  draw  the  indolent,  the  care 
less,  the  indifferent,  the  self-indulgent,  to  the  house  of 
worship.  And  the  preacher,  '  the  messenger  of  Heaven/ 
'  the  legate  of  the  skies,' — Alas  !  I  dare  not  trust  my  pen 
to  draw  the  portraits  of  some  of  these  well-meaning,  but 
most  incompetent  persons.  I  can  only  say  that  a  large 
part  of  them  seem  to  me  grievously  to  have  mistaken  their 
vocation. 

'  All  are  not  such.'  We  have  occasionally  a  preacher 
whose  language  and  manner,  though  plain,  are  far  from 
being  either  coarse  or  vulgar,  and  whose  sermons,  though 
generally  quite  curious  in  their  way,  have  nothing  that  is 
either  ridiculous  or  disgusting.  If  we  suffer  ourselves  to 
be  driven  from  the  humble  meeting-house  by  one  preacher 
with  the  dress  and  air  of  a  horse-jockey,  who  will  rant  and 
scream  till  he  is  obliged  to  have  incessant  recourse  to  his 
handkerchief  to  dry  the  tears  which  are  the  natural  result 
of  the  excitement  into  which  he  has  lashed  himself,  we  may 
perhaps  lose  a  good  plain  practical  discourse  from  another, 
who  with  only  tolerable  worldly  advantages,  has  yet  stu 
died  his  Bible  with  profit,  and  offers  with  gentle  persuasive 
ness  its  message  of  mercy.  Yet  to  sit  from  two  to  three 
hours  trying  to  listen  to  the  blubberer,  is  a  trial  of  one's 
nerves  and  patience  which  is  almost  too  much  to  ask ; 
greater  I  confess,  than  I  am  often  willing  to  endure,  well 


WHO'LL    FOLLOW?  203 

convinced  as  I  am,  that  the  best  good  of  all,  requires  the 
support  of  some  form  of  public  worship. 

I  have  often  been  a  little  amused  not  only  at  the  very 
characteristic  style  of  the  illustrations  which  are  freely 
made  use  of,  by  all  who  are  in  the  habit  of  preaching  in 
the  new  settlements,  but  at  the  extreme  politeness  with 
which  certain  rather  too  common  classes  of  sins,  are  touched 
upon  by  these  pioneers  among  us.  They  belong  to  various 
denominations,  and  they  are  well  aware  that  a  still  greater 
number  of  differing  sects  are  represented  in  their  audience  ; 
and  each  is  naturally  desirous  to  secure  as  many  adherents 
as  possible  to  his  own  view  of  religious  truth.  It  becomes 
therefore  particularly  necessary  to  avoid  giving  personal 
offence.  Does  the  speaker  wish  to  show  the  evils  and 
penalties  of  Sabbath-breaking,  of  profanity,  of  falsehood,  of 
slander,  of  dishonest  dealings,  or  any  other  offence  which 
he  knows  is  practised  by  some  at  least  among  his  auditors, 
he  generally  begins  with  observing  that  he  is  quite  a 
stranger,  very  little  acquainted  in  the  neighborhood,  entirely 
ignorant  whether  what  he  is  going  to  say  may  or  may  not  be 
especially  applicable  to  any  of  his  hearers,  and  that  he  only 
judges  from  the  general  condition  of  human  nature,  that 
such  cautions  or  exhortations  may  be  necessary,  &c.,  exhib 
iting  a  constant  struggle  between  his  sense  of  duty  and  his 
fear  of  making  enemies. 

The  illustrative  style  to  which  I  have  alluded,  is  certainly 
much  better  calculated  to  excite  the  attention,  and  keep 
alive  the  interest  of  an  unlettered  audience,  than  the  most 
powerful  argument  could  possibly  be,  but  it  is  sometimes 
carried  so  far  that  the  younger  part  of  the  congregation 
find  it  hard  to  maintain  the  gravity  befitting  the  time.  It 
is  not  long  since  I  heard  a  good  man  preach  from  the  text 


204  ANEWHOME, 

*  Behold  how  great  a  matter  a  little  fire  kindleth/  He 
began  by  saying  that  it  could  not  be  necessary  to  show 
the  literal  truth  of  this  observation  of  the  Apostle  ;  '  For 
you  yourselves  know,  my  friends,  especially  at  this  time  of 
year,  when  most  of  you  have  had  to  fight  fire  more  or  less, 
how  easy  it  is  to  kindle  what  is  so  difficult  to  put  out.  You 
know  that  what  fire  a  man  can  carry  in  his  hand,  applied 
to  the  dry  grass  on  the  marshes,  will  grow  so,  that  in  ten 
minutes  a  hundred  men  could  not  put  it  out,  and,  if  you 
do  n't  take  care,  it  will  burn  up  your  hay-stacks  and  your 
bams  too,  ay,  and  your  houses,  if  the  wind  happens  to  be 
pretty  strong.  And  if  you  get  a  cannon  loaded  up  with 
powder,  it  won't  take  but  a  leetle  grain  of  fire  to  produce  a 
great  explosion,  and  maybe  kill  somebody.  And  I  dare 
say  that  some  of  you  have  seen  the  way  they  get  along  in 
making  railroads  in  the  winter,  when  the  ground  's  froze  so 
hard  that  they  can't  dig  a  bit ;  they  blast  off  great  bodies 
of  the  hard  ground,  just  as  they  blast  rocks.  And  it  don't 
take  any  more  than  a  spark  to  set  it  a-going  Even  so,  a 
woman's  tongue  can  set  a  whole  neighborhood  together  by 
the  ears,  and  do  more  mischief  in  a  minute,  than  she  can 
undo  in  a  month.'  At  this  all  the  young  folks  looked  at 
each  other  and  smiled,  and  as  the  preacher  went  on  in  a 
similar  strain,  the  smile  was  frequently  repeated  ;  and  such 
scenes  are  not  very  uncommon. 

It  was  some  little  time  before  we  could  learn  the  rules 
of  etiquette  which  are  observed  among  these  itinerent  or 
voluntary  preachers.  We  supposed  that  if  a  meeting  was 
given  out  for  Sunday  morning  at  the  school-house  by  a 
Baptist,  any  other  room  might  be  obtained  and  occupied  at 
the  same  hour  by  a  Presbyterian  or  Methodist,  leaving  it  to 
the  people  to  choose  which  they  would  hear.  But  this  is 


WHO'LL    FOLLOW?  205 

considered  a  most  ungenerous  usurpation,  and  such  things 
are  indignantly  frowned  upon  by  all  the  meeting-goers  in 
the  community.  If  a  minister  of  any  denomination  has 
appointed  a  meeting,  no  other  must  preach  at  the  same 
hour  in  the  neighborhood  ;  and  this  singular  notion  gives 
rise  to  much  of  the  petty  squabbling  and  ill-will  which 
torments  Montacute  as  well  as  other  small  places. 

This  is  one  of  the  many  cases  wherein  it  is  easier  to  waive 
one's  rights  than  to  quarrel  for  them.  I  hope,  as  our 
numbers  increase  rapidly,  the  evil  will  soon  cure  itself, 
since  one  room  will  not  long  be  elastic  enough  to  contain 
all  the  church-goers. 

Of  the  state  of  religion,  a  light  work  like  this  affords  no 
fitting  opportunity  to  speak ;  but  I  may  say  that  the  really 
devoted  Christian  can  find  no  fairer  or  ampler  field.  None 
but  the  truly  devoted  will  endure  the  difficulties  and  dis 
couragements  of  the  way.  '  Pride,  sloth,  and  silken  ease/ 
find  no  favor  in  the  eyes  of  the  fierce,  reckless,  hard-handed 
Wolverine.  He  needs 

A  preacher  such  as  Paul, 
Were  he  on  earth,  would  hear,  approve  and  own. 

Ministers  who  cannot  or  will  not  conform  themselves  to 
the  manners  of  the  country,  do  more  harm  than  good. 
PRIDE  is,  as  I  have  elsewhere  observed,  the  bugbear  of  the 
western  country ;  and  the  appearance  of  it,  or  a  suspicion 
of  it,  in  a  clergyman,  not  only  destroys  his  personal  influ 
ence,  but  depreciates  his  office. 

It  takes  one   a  long  while  to  become  accustomed  to  the 

unceremonious  manner  in  which  the  meetings  of  all  sorts 

are  conducted.     Many  people  go  in  and  out  whenever  they 

feel  disposed ;  and  the   young  men,   who  soon  tire,  give 

18 


206  A    NEW    HOME, 

unequivocal  symptoms  of  their  weariness,  and  generally 
walk  off  with  a  nonchalant  air,  at  any  time  during  the 
exercises.  Women  usually  carry  their  babies,  and  some 
times  two  or  three  who  can  scarcely  walk ;  and  the 
restlessness  of  these  youthful  members,  together  with  an 
occasional  display  of  their  musical  talents,  sometimes  inter 
rupts  in  no  small  measure  the  progress  of  the  speaker. 
The  stove  is  always  in  the  centre  of  the  room,  with  benches 
arranged  in  a  hollow  square  around  it  ;  and  the  area  thus 
formed  is  the  scene  of  infantile  operations.  I  have  seen  a 
dozen  people  kept  on  a  stretch  during  a  whole  long  sermon, 
by  a  little,  tottering,  rosy-cheeked  urchin,  who  chose  to 
approach  within  a  few  inches  of  the  stove  every  minute  or 
two,  and  to  fall  at  every  third  step,  at  the  imminent  danger 
of  lodging  against  the  hot  iron.  And  the  mamma  sat 
looking  on  with  an  air  of  entire  complacency,  picking  up 
the  chubby  rogue  occasionally,  and  varying  the  scene  by 
the  performance  of  the  maternal  office. 

I  fancy  it  would  somewhat  disconcert  a  city  clergyman, 
on  ascending  his  sumptuous  pulpit,  to  find  it  already 
occupied  by  a  deaf  old  man,  with  his  tin  ear-trumpet  ready 
to  catch  every  word.  This  I  have  seen  again  and  again ; 
and  however  embarrassing  to  the  preacher,  an  objection  or 
remonstrance  on  the  subject  would  be  very  ill-received. 
And  after  all,  I  must  confess,  I  have  heard  sermons  preach 
ed  in  such  circumstances,  which  would  have  reflected  no 
disgrace  on  certain  gorgeous  draperies  of  velvet  and  gold. 

The  meliorating  influence  of  the  Sunday  school  is  felt 
here  as  everywhere  else,  and  perhaps  here  more  evidently 
than  in  places  where  society  is  farther  advanced.  When 
books  are  provided,  the  children  flock  to  obtain  them,  with 


WHO'LL    FOLLOW?  207 

a  zest  proportioned  to  the  scarcity  of  those  sweeteners 
of  solitude.  Our  little  Montacute  library  has  been  well- 
thumbed  already,  by  old  and  young  ;  and  there  is  nothing  I 
long  for  so  much  as  a  public  library  of  works  better  suited  to 
'  children  of  a  larger  growth.'  But  '  le  bon  temps  viendra.' 


208  A    NEW    HOME, 


CHAPTER  XXXIV. 

There  is  a  cunning  which  we  in  England  call  'the  turning  of  the  cat  in  the 
pan ;'  which  is,  when  that  which  a  man  says  to  another,  he  lays  it  as  if  an 
other  had  said  it  to  him. 

BACON. 

MY  near  neighbor,  Mrs.  Nippers,  whose  garden  joins 
ours,  and  whose  '  keepin  room,'  I  regret  to  say  it,  looks 
into  my  kitchen,  was  most  cruelly  mortified  that  she  was 
not  elected  President  of  the  Montacute  Female  Beneficent 
Society.  It  would  have  been  an  office  so  congenial  to 
her  character,  condition,  and  habits !  'T  was  cruel  to  give 
it  to  Mrs.  Skinner,  'merely,'  as  Mrs.  Nippers  declares, 
*  because  the  society  wanted  to  get  remnants  from  the 
store !' 

Mrs.  Campaspe  Nippers  is  a  widow  lady  of  some 
thirty-five,  or  thereabouts,  who  lives  with  her  niece  alone 
in  a  small  house,  in  the  midst  of  a  small  garden,  in  the 
heart  of  the  village.  I  have  never  noticed  anything 
peculiar  in  the  construction  of  the  house.  There  are  not, 
that  I  can  discover,  any  contrivances  resembling  ears ; 
or  those  ingenious  funnels  of  sail  cloth  which  are  employed 
on  board  ship  to  coax  fresh  air  down  between-decks.  Nor 
are  there  large  mirrors,  nor  a  telescope,  within  doors,  nor 
yet  a  camera  obscura.  I  have  never  yet  detected  any 
telegraphic  signals  from  without.  Yet  no  man  sneezes 
at  opening  his  front  door  in  the  morning ;  no  woman  sweeps 
her  steps  after  breakfast ;  no  child  goes  late  to  school ; 
no  damsel  slips  into  the  store  ;  no  bottle  out  of  it ;  no  family 


MRS.  CAMFASPE  NIPPERS 


p    208, 


WHO'LL    FOLLOW?  209 

has  fried  onions  for  dinner ;  no  hen  lays  an  egg  in  the  after 
noon  ;  no  horse  slips  his  bridle ;  no  cow  is  missing  at 
milking-time,  and  no  young  couple  after  tea ;  but  Mrs. 
Nippers,  and  her  niece,  Miss  Artemisia  Clinch,  know  all 
about  it,  and  tell  it  to  everybody  who  will  listen  to  them. 

A  sad  rumor  was  raised  last  winter,  by  some  spiteful 
gossip,  against  a  poor  woman  who  had  taken  lodgers  to 
gain  bread  for  her  family  ;  and  when  Mrs.  Nippers  found 
it  rather  difficult  to  gain  credence  for  her  view  of  the  story, 
she  nailed  the  matter,  as  she  supposed,  by  whispering  with 
mysterious  meaning,  while  her  large  light  eyes  dilated 
with  energy  and  enjoyment — '  I  have  myself  seen  a  light 
there  after  eleven  o'clock  at  night !' 

In  vain  did  the  poor  woman's  poor  husband,  a  man  who 
worked  hard,  but  would  make  a  beast  of  himself  at  times, 
protest  that  malice  itself  might  let  his  wife  escape  ;  and  dare 
any  man  to  come  forward  and  say  aught  against  her.  Mrs. 
Nippers  only  smiled,  and  stretched  her  eye-lids  so  far  apart, 
that  the  sky-blue  whites  of  her  light-grey  eyes  were  visible 
both  above  and  below  the  scarce  distinguishable  iris,  and 
then  looked  at  Miss  Artemisia  Clinch  with  such  triumphant 
certainty ;  observing,  that  a  drunkard's  word  was  not 
worth  much.  It  is  impossible  ever  to  convince  her,  in 
any  body's  favor. 

But  this  is  mere  wandering.  Association  led  me  from 
my  intent,  which  was  only  to  speak  of  Mrs.  Nippers  as 
connected  with  the  Montacute  Female  Beneficent  Society. 
This  Association  is  the  prime  dissipation  of  our  village, 
the  magic  circle  within  which  lies  all  our  cherished  exclu- 

O 

siveness,   the  stronghold  of  caste,  the  test  of  gentility,   the 
temple  of  emulation,  the  hive  of  industry,    the   mart   of 
fashion,  and  I  must  add,  though  reluctantly,  the  fountain 
18* 


210  A    NEW    HOME, 

of  village  scandal,  the  hot-bed  from  which  springs  every 
root  of  bitterness  among  the  petticoated  denizens  of  Mon- 
tacute.  I  trust  the  importance  of  -the  Society  will  be 
enhanced  in  the  reader's  estimation,  by  the  variety  of 
figures  I  have  been  compelled  to  use  in  describing  it. 
Perhaps  it  would  have  been  enough  to  have  said  it  is  a 
Ladies'  Sewing  Society,  and  so  saved  all  this  wordiness; 
but  I  like  to  amplify. 

When  the  idea  was  first  started,  by  I  know  not  what 
fortunate  individual, — Mrs.  Nipper  does,  I  dare  say, -—this 
same  widow-lady  espoused  the  thing  warmly,  donned  her 
India-rubbers,  and  went  all  over  through  the  sticky  mud, 
breakfasted  with  me,  dined  with  Mrs.  Rivers,  took  tea  with 
Mrs.  Skinner,  and  spent  the  intervals  and  the  evening  with 
half-a-dozen  other  people,  not  only  to  recommend  the  plan, 
but  to  give  her  opinion  how  the  affair  ought  to  be  con 
ducted,  to  what  benevolent  uses  applied,  and  under  what 
laws  and  by-laws ;  and  though  last,  far  from  least,  who 
ought  to  be  its  officers.  Five  Directresses  did  she  select, 
two  Secretaries,  and  a  Treasurer,  Managers  and  Auditors, 
— like  the  military  play  of  my  three  brothers,  who  always 
had  '  fore -captain,'  '  hind-captain,'  and  *  middle-captain,' 
but  no  privates.  But  in  all  this  Mrs.  Campaspe  never  once 
hinted  the  name  of  a  Lady  President.  She  said,  to  be 
sure,  that  she  should  be  very  glad  to  be  of  any  sort  of 
service  to  the  Society ;  and  that  from  her  position  she 
should  be  more  at  leisure  to  devote  time  to  its  business, 
than  almost  any  other  person;  and  that  both  herself  and 
her  niece  had  been  concerned  in  a  sewing  society  in  a 
certain  village  at  '  the  East,'  whose  doings  were  often 
quoted  by  both  ladies,  and  concluded  by  inquiring  who 
her  hearer  thought  would  be  the  most  suitable  president. 


WHO'LL    FOLLOW?  211 

In  spite  of  all  this  industrious  canvassing,  when  the 
meeting  for  forming  the  society  took  place  at  Mrs.  Skin 
ner's,  Mrs.  Campaspe  Nipper's  name  was  perversely  omit 
ted  in  the  animated  ballot  for  dignities.  No  one  said  a 
word,  but  every  one  had  a  soil  of  undefined  dread  of  so 
active  a  member,  and,  by  tacit  consent,  every  office 
which  she  had  herself  contrived,  was  filled,  without 
calling  upon  her.  Her  eyes  grew  preternaturally  pale, 
and  her  lips  wan  as  whit-leather,  when  the  result  was 
known ;  but  she  did  not  trust  herself  to  speak.  She 
placed  her  name  on  the  list  of  members  with  as  much 
composure  as  could  be  looked  for,  under  such  trying 
circumstances,  and  soon  after  departed  with  Miss  Artemisia 
Clinch,  giving  a  parting  glance  which  seemed  to  say,  writh 
Sir  Peter  Teazle,  '  I  leave  my  character  behind  me.' 

A  pawkie  smile  dawned  on  two  or  three  of  the  sober 
visages  of  our  village  dames,  as  the  all-knowing  widow  and 
her  submissive  niece  closed  the  door,  but  no  one  ventured 
a  remark  on  the  killing  frost  which  had  fallen  upon  Mrs. 
Nippers's  anticipated  '  budding  honors,'  and,  after  agreeing 
upon  a  meeting  at  our  house,  the  ladies  dispersed. 

The  next  morning,  as  I  drew  my  window  curtain,  to  see 
whether  the  sun  had  aired  the  world  enough  to  make  it 
safe  for  me  to  get  up  to  breakfast, — I  do  not  often  dispute 
the  pas  with  Aurora, — I  saw  Mrs.  Nippers  emerge  from 
the  little  front  door  of  her  tiny  mansion,  unattended  by  her 
niece,  for  a  marvel,  and  pace  majestically  down  Main  street. 

I  watched  her  in  something  of  her  own  prying  spirit,  to 
see  whither  she  could  be  going  so  early;  but  she  disap 
peared  in  the  woods,  and  I  turned  to  my  combs  and 
brushes,  and  thought  no  more  of  the  matter. 

But   the  next  day,   and  the  next,  and   the  day  after, 


212  A    NEW    HOME, 

almost  as  early  each  morning,  out  trotted  my  busy  neigh 
bor  ;  and  although  she  disappeared  in  different  directions — 
sometimes  P.  S.  and  sometimes  0.  P. — she  never  returned 
till  late  in  the  afternoon.  My  curiosity  began  to  be 
troublesome. 

At  length  came  the  much- desired  Tuesday,  whose 
destined  event  was  the  first  meeting  of  the  society.  I  had 
made  preparations  for  such  plain  and  simple  cheer  as  is 
usual  at  such  feminine  gatherings,  and  began  to  think  of 
arranging  my  dress  with  the  decorum  required  by  the  occa 
sion,  when,  about  one  hour  before  the  appointed  time,  came 
Mrs.  Nippers  and  Miss  Clinch,  and  ere  they  were  un- 
shawled  and  unhooded,  Mrs.  Flyter  and  her  three  children 
— the  eldest  four  years,  and  the  youngest  six  months. 
Then  Mrs.  Muggles  and  her  crimson  baby,  four  Aveeks  old. 
Close  on  her  heels,  Mrs.  Briggs  and  her  little  boy  of  about 
three  years'  standing,  in  a  long  tailed  coat,  with  vest  and 
decencies  of  scarlet  Circassian.  And  there  I  stood  in  my 
gingham  wrapper  and  kitchen  apron ;  much  to  my  discom 
fiture  and  the  undisguised  surprise  of  the  Female  Beneficent 
Society. 

'I  always  calculate  to  be  ready  to  begin  at  the  time 
appointed,'  remarked  the  gristle-lipped  widow. 

'So  do  I,'  responded  Mrs.  Flyter  and  Mrs.  Muggles, 
both  of  whom  sat  the  whole  afternoon  with  baby  on  knee, 
and  did  not  sew  a  stitch. 

'  What !  is  n't  there  any  work  ready  ?'  continued  Mrs. 
Nippers,  with  an  astonished  aspect;  'well,  I  did  suppose 
that  such  smart  officers  as  we  have  would  have  prepared 
all  beforehand.  We  always  used  to,  at  the  East.' 

Mrs.  Skinner,  who  is  really  quite  a  pattern-woman  in  all 
that  makes  woman  indispensable,  viz.,  cookery  and  sewing, 


VV  H  O  '  L  L    F  O  L  L  0  W  ?  213 

took  up  the  matter  quite  warmly,  just  as  I  slipped  away  in 
disgrace  to  make  the  requisite  reform  in  my  costume. 

When  I  returned,  the  work  was  distributed,  and  the 
company  broken  up  into  little  knots  or  coteries ;  every 
head  bowed,  and  every  tongue  in  full  play.  1  took  my 
seat  at  as  great  a  distance  from  the  sharp  widow  as  might 
be, — though  it  is  vain  to  think  of  eluding  a  person  of  her 
ubiquity, — and  reconnoitred  the  company  who  were  '  done 
off'  (indigenous,)  'in  first-rate  style,'  for  this  important 
occasion.  There  were  nineteen  women  with  thirteen  babies 
— or  at  least  *  young  'uns,'  (indigenous,)  who  were  not 
above  gingerbread.  Of  these  thirteen,  nine  held  large 
chunks  of  gingerbread,  or  dough-nuts,  in  trust,  for  the 
benefit  of  the  gowns  of  the  society ;  the  remaining  four 
were  supplied  with  bunches  of  maple  sugar,  tied  in  bits  of 
rag,  and  pinned  to  their  shoulders,  or  held  dripping  in  the 
fingers  of  their  mammas. 

Mrs.  Flyter  was  '  slicked  up '  for  the  occasion,  in  the 
snuff-colored  silk  she  was  married  in,  curiously  enlarged  in 
the  back  and  not  as  voluminous  in  the  floating  part  as  is 
the  wasteful  custom  of  the  present  day.  Her  three  im 
mense  children,  white-haired  and  blubber-lipped  like  their 
amiable  parent,  were  in  pink  ginghams  and  blue  glass 
beads.  Mrs.  Nippers  wore  her  unfailing  brown  merino, 
and  black  apron ;  Miss  Clinch  her  inevitable  scarlet  calico  ; 
Mrs.  Skinner  her  red  merino  with  baby  of  the  same ;  Mrs. 
Daker  shone  out  in  her  very  choicest  city  finery,  (where 
else  could  she  show  it,  poor  thing?)  and  a  dozen  other 
Mistresses  shone  in  their  ' 't  other  gowns,'  and  their  tam 
boured  collars.  Mrs.  Doubleday's  pretty  black-eyed  dolly 
was  neatly  stowed  in  a  small  willow  basket,  where  it  lay 
looking  about  with  eyes  full  of  sweet  wonder,  behaving 


214  A    NEW    HOME, 

itself  with  marvellous  quietness  and  discretion,  as  did  most 
of  the  other  little  torments,  to  do  them  justice. 

Much  consultation,  deep  and  solemn,  was  held  as  to  the 
most  profitable  kinds  of  work  to  be  undertaken  by  the 
society.  Many  were  in  favor  of  making  up  linen,  cotton 
linen  of  course,  but  Mrs.  Nippers  assured  the  company  that 
shirts  never  used  to  sell  well  at  the  East,  and  therefore  she 
was  perfectly  certain  that  they  would  not  do  here.  Pin 
cushions  and  such  like  feminilities  were  then  proposed ;  but 
at  these  Mrs.  Nippers  held  up  both  hands,  and  showed  a 
double  share  of  blue- white  around  her  eyes.  Nobody 
about  here  needed  pincushions,  and  besides  where  should 
we  get  materials  ?  Aprons,  capes,  caps,  collars,  were  all 
proposed  with  the  same  ill  success.  At  length  Mrs. 
Doubleday,  with  an  air  of  great  deference,  inquired  what 
Mrs.  Nippers  would  recommend. 

The  good  lady  hesitated  a  little  at  this.  It  was  more 
her  forte  to  object  to  other  people's  plans,  than  to  suggest 
better;  but,  after  a  moment's  consideration,  she  said  she 
should  think  fancy-boxes,  watch-cases,  and  alum-baskets 
would  be  very  pretty. 

A  dead  silence  fell  on  the  assembly,  but  of  course  it  did 
not  last  long.  Mrs.  Skinner  went  on  quietly  cutting  out 
shirts,  and  in  a  very  short  time  furnished  each  member 
with  a  good  supply  of  work,  stating  that  any  lady  might 
take  work  home  to  finish  if  she  liked. 

Mrs.  Nippers  took  her  work  and  edged  herself  into  a 
coterie  of  which  Mrs.  Flyter  had  seemed  till  then  the 
magnet.  Very  soon  I  heard,  '  I  declare  it 's  a  shame  !'  '  I 
do  n't  know  what  '11  be  done  about  it !'  '  She  told  me  so 
with  her  own  mouth  !'  '  0,  but  I  was  there  myself !'  etc., 


WHO'LL    FOLLOW?  215 

etc.,  in  many  different  voices ;   the  interstices  well  filled 
with  ^indistinguishable  whispers  '  not  loud  but  deep.' 

It  was  not  long  before  the  active  widow  transferred  her 
seat  to  another  corner ;  Miss  Clinch  plying  her  tongue,  not 
her  needle,  in  a  third.  The  whispers  and  the  exclamations 
seemed  to  be  gaming  ground.  The  few  silent  members 
were  inquiring  for  more  work. 

'  Mrs.  Nippers  has  the  sleeve !  Mrs.  Nippers,  have  you 
finished  that  sleeve  ?' 

Mrs.  Nippers  colored,  said  '  No,'  and  sewed  four  stitches. 
At  length  the  *  storm  grew  loud  apace.'  '  It  will  break  up 
the  society ' 

'What  is  that?'  asked  Mrs.  Doubleday,  in  her  sharp 
treble.  '  What  is  it,  Mrs.  Nippers  ?  You  know  all  about 
it.' 

Mrs.  Nippers  replied  that  she  only  knew  what  she  had 
heard,  etc.,  etc.,  but,  after  a  little  urging,  consented  to 
inform  the  company  in  general,  that  there  was  great 
dissatisfaction  in  the  neighborhood ;  that  those  who  lived  in 
log-houses  at  a  little  distance  from  the  village,  had  not  been 
invited  to  join  the  society;  and  also  that  many  people 
thought  twenty-five  cents  quite  too  high  for  a  yearly  sub 
scription. 

Many  looked  aghast  at  this.  Public  opinion  is  nowhere 
so  strongly  felt  as  in  this  country,  among  new  settlers. 
And,  as  many  of  the  present  company  still  lived  in  log- 
houses,  a  tender  string  was  touched. 

At  length,  an  old  lady,  who  had  sat  quietly  in  a  corner 
all  the  afternoon,  looked  up  from  behind  the  great  woollen 
sock  she  was  knitting — 

*  Well,  now !  that 's  queer !'  said  she,  addressing  Mrs. 
Nippers  with  an  air  of  simplicity  simplified.  '  Miss  Turner 


216  A    NEW    HOME, 

told  me  you  went  round  her  neighborhood  last  Friday,  and 
told  that  Miss  Clavers  and  Miss  Skinner  despised  every 
body  that  lived  in  log-houses ;  and  you  know  you  told  Miss 
Briggs  that  you  thought  twenty-five  cents  was  too  much ; 
did  n't  she,  Miss  Briggs  ?'  Mrs.  Briggs  nodded. 

The  widow  blushed  to  the  very  centre  of  her  pale  eyes, 
but  /  e'en  though  vanquished,'  she  lost  not  her  assurance. 
'  Why,  I  'm  sure  I  only  said  that  we  only  paid  twelve-and- 
a-half  cents  at  the  East ;  and  as  to  log-houses,  I  do  n't 
know,  I  can't  just  recollect,  but  I  did  n't  say  more  than 
others  did.' 

But  human  nature  could  not  bear  up  against  the  mortifi 
cation  ;  and  it  had,  after  all,  the  scarce  credible  effect  of 
making  Mrs.  Nippers  sew  in  silence  for  some  time,  and 
carry  her  colors  at  half-mast  for  the  remainder  of  the  after 
noon  . 

At  tea  each  lady  took  one  or  more  of  her  babies  into  her 
lap  and  much  grabbing  ensued.  Those  who  wore  calicoes 
seemed  in  good  spirits  and  appetite,  for  green  tea  at  least, 
but  those  who  had  unwarily  sported  silks  and  other  un- 
washables,  looked  acid  and  uncomfortable.  Cake  flew 
about  at  a  great  rate,  and  the  milk  and  water,  which  ought 
to  have  gone  quietly  down  sundry  juvenile  throats,  was 
spirted  without  mercy  into  various  wry  faces.  But  we  got 
through.  The  astringent  refreshment  produced  its  usual 
crisping  effect  upon  the  vivacity  of  the  company.  Talk  ran 
high  upon  almost  all  Montacutian  themes. 

'  Do  you  have  any  butter  now  ?'  '  When  are  you  going 
to  raise  your  barn?'  'Is  your  man  a  going  to  kill  this 
week?'  'I  ha'n't  seen  a  bit  of  meat  these  six  weeks.' 
'  Was  you  to  meetin'  last  Sabbath  ?'  '  Has  Miss  White  got 
any  wool  to  sell?'  'Do  tell  if  you've  been  to  Detroit!' 


WHO'LL    FOLLOW?  217 

'Are  you  out  of  candles?'  'Well,  I  should  think  Sarah 
Teals  wanted  a  new  gown  !'  '  I  hope  we  shall  have  milk  in 
a  week  or  two/  and  so  on  ;  for,  be  it  known,  that,  in  a  state 
of  society  like  ours,  the  bare  necessaries  of  life  are  subjects 
of  sufficient  interest  for  a  good  deal  of  conversation.  More 
than  one  truly  respectable  woman  of  our  neighborhood  has 
told  me,  that  it  is  not  very  many  years  since  a  moderate 
allowance  of  Indian  meal  and  potatoes  was  literally  all  that 
fell  to  their  share  of  this  rich  world  for  weeks  together. 

'  Is  your  daughter  Isabella  well  ?'  asked  Mrs.  Nippers  of 
me  solemnly,  pointing  to  little  Bell  who  sat  munching  her 
bread  and  butter,  half  asleep,  at  the  fragmentious  table. 

'  Yes,  I  believe  so,  look  at  her  cheeks.' 

'  Ah  yes  !  it  was  her  cheeks  I  was  looking  at.  They  are 
so  very  rosy.  I  have  a  little  niece  who  is  the  very  image 
of  her.  I  never  see  Isabella  without  thinking  of  Jerushy ; 
and  Jerushy  is  most  dreadfully  scrofulous !' 

Satisfied  at  having  made  me  uncomfortable,  Mrs.  Nippers 
turned  to  Mrs.  Doubleday,  who  was  trotting  her  pretty 
babe  with  her  usual  proud  fondness. 

'  Do  n't  you  think  your  baby  breathes  rather  strangely  ?' 
said  the  tormentor. 

'  Breathes !  how !'  said  the  poor  thing,  off  her  guard  in 
an  instant. 

'Why,  rather  croupish,  I  think,  if  /  am  any  judge.  I 
have  never  had  any  children  of  my  own  to  be  sure,  but 
I  was  with  Mrs.  Green'sv  baby  when  it  died,  and ' 

'  Come,  we  '11  be  off !'  said  Mr.  Doubleday,  who  had 
come  for  his  spouse.  '  Do  n't  mind  the  envious  vixen  ' — 
aside  to  his  Polly. 

Just  then,  somebody  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  room 
19 


218  A    NEW    HOME, 

happened  to  say,  speaking  of  some  cloth  affair,  '  Mrs.  Nip 
pers  says  it  ought  to  be  sponged.' 

'  Well,  sponge  it  then,  by  all  means,'  said  Mr.  Double- 
day,  '  nobody  else  knows  half  as  much  about  sponging; ;' 
and,  with  wife  and  baby  in  tow,  off  walked  the  laughing 
Philo,  leaving  the  widow  absolutely  transfixed. 

'  What  could  Mr.  Doubleday  mean  by  that  ?'  was  at 
length  her  indignant  exclamation. 

Nobody  spoke. 

'  I  am  sure,'  continued  the  crest-fallen  Mrs.  Campaspe, 
with  an  attempt  at  a  scornful  giggle,  '  I  am  sure  if  any 
body  understood  him,  I  would  be  glad  to  know  what  he 
did  mean.' 

'Well  now,  I  can  tell  you;'  said  the  same  simple  old  lady 
in  the  corner,  who  had  let  out  the  secret  of  Mrs.  Nippers's 
morning  walks.  '  Some  folks  call  that  sponging  when  you 
go  about  getting  your  dinner  here  and  your  tea  there,  and 
sich  like ;  as  you  know  you  and  Meesy  there  does.  That 
was  what  he  meant,  I  guess.'  And  the  old  lady  quietly 
put  up  her  knitting,  and  prepared  to  go  home. 

There  have  been  times  when  I  have  thought  that  almost 
any  degree  of  courtly  duplicity  would  be  preferable  to  the 
brusquerie  of  some  of  my  neighbors  :  but  on  this  occasion  I 
gave  all  due  credit  to  a  simple  and  downright  way  of  stating 
the  plain  truth.  The  scrofulous  hint  probably  brightened 
my  mental  and  moral  vision  somewhat. 

Mrs.  Nippers's  claret  cloak  and  green  bonnet,  and  Miss 
Clinch's  ditto  ditto,  were  in  earnest  requisition,  and  I  do 
not  think  either  of  them  spent  a  day  out  that  week. 


WHO'LL    FOLLOW?  219 


CHAPTER     XXXV. 

We  will  rear  new  homes  under  trees  which  glow 
As  if  gems  were  the  fruitage  of  every  bough ; 
O'er  our  white  walls  we  will  train  the  vine 
And  sit  in  its  shadow  at  day's  decline. 

MRS.  HKMANS. 

Alas!  they  had  been  friends  in  youth 
But  whispering  tongues  will  poison  truth. 

They  stood  aloof,  the  scars  remaining, — 
A  dreary  sea  now  flows  between. 

CHRISTABEL. 

MANY  English  families  reside  in  our  vicinity,  some  of 
them  well  calculated  to  make  their  way  any  where  ;  close, 
penurious,  grasping  and  indefatigable ;  denying  themselves 
all  but  the  necessaries  of  life,  in  order  to  add  to  their  lands, 
and  make  the  most  of  their  crops  ;  and  somewhat  apt  in 
bargaining  to  overreach  even  the  wary  pumpkin-eaters, 
their  neighbors  ;  others  to  whom  all  these  things  seem  so 
foreign  and  so  unsuitable,  that  one  cannot  but  wonder  that 
the  vagaries  of  fortune  should  have  sent  them  into  so 
uncongenial  an  atmosphere.  The  class  last  mentioned, 
generally  live  retired,  and  show  little  inclination  to  mingle 
with  their  rustic  neighbors  ;  and,  of  course,  they  become  at 
once  the  objects  of  suspicion  and  dislike.  The  principle  of 
'  let-a-be  for  let-a-be  '  holds  not  with  us.  Whoever  exbibits 
any  desire  for  privacy  is  set  down  as  '  praoud/  or  something 
worse ;  no  matter  how  inoffensive,  or  even  how  benevolent 
he  may  be  ;  and  of  all  places  in  the  world  in  which  to  live 


220  A    NEW    HOME, 

on  the  shady  side  of  public  opinion,  an  American  back 
woods  settlement  is  the  very  worst,  as  many  of  these 
unforfunately  mistaken  emigrants  have  been  made  to  feel. 

The  better  classes  of  English  settlers  seem  to  have  left 
their  own  country  with  high-wrought  notions  of  the 
unbounded  freedom  to  be  enjoyed  in  this;  and  it  is  with 
feelings  of  angry  surprise  that  they  learn  after  a  short 
residence  here,  that  this  very  universal  freedom  abridges 
their  own  liberty  to  do  as  they  please  in  their  individual 
capacity  ;  that  the  absolute  democracy  which  prevails  in 
country  places,  imposes  as  heavy  restraints  upon  one's  free 
will  in  some  particulars,  as  do  the  over-bearing  pride  and 
haughty  distinctions  of  the  old  world  in  others  ;  and  after 
one  has  changed  one's  whole  plan  of  life,  and  crossed  the 
wide  ocean  to  find  a  Utopia,  the  waking  to  reality  is  attend 
ed  with  feelings  of  no  slight  bitterness.  In  some  instances 
within  my  knowledge  these  feelings  of  disappointment  have 
been  so  severe  as  to  neutralize  all  that  was  good  in 
American  life,  and  to  produce  a  degree  of  sour  discontent 
which  increased  every  real  evil,  and  went  far  towards 
alienating  the  few  who  were  kindly  inclined  toward  the 
stranger. 

I  ever  regarded  our  very  intelligent  neighbors,  the 
Brents,  as  belonging  to  the  class  who  have  emigrated  by 
mistake,  they  seemed  so  well-bred,  so  well-off,  so  amiable 
and  so  unhappy.  They  lived  a  few  miles  from  us,  and  we 
saw  them  but  seldom,  far  less  frequently  than  I  could  have 
wished,  for  there  were  few  whose  society  was  so  agreeable. 
Mr.  Brent  was  a  handsome,  noble-looking  man  of  thirty,  or 
perhaps  a  little  more,  well-read,  and  passionately  fond  of 
literary  pursuits ;  no  more  fit  to  be  a  Michigan  farmer  than 
to  figure  as  President  of  the  Texan  republic ;  and  his  wife, 


WHO'LL    FOL  LOW?  221 

a  gentle  and  timid  woman,  very  dependent  and  very  lovely, 
was  as  ill  fitted  to  bear  the  household  part  of  a  farmer's  lot. 
But  all  this  seemed  well-arranged,  for  the  farm  was  man 
aged  '  on  shares  '  by  a  stout  husbandman  and  his  family, 
tolerably  honest  and  trustworthy  people  as  times  go ;  and 
Mr.  Brent  and  his  pale  and  delicate  Catherine  disposed  of 
their  hours  as  they  thought  proper ;  not  however  without 
many  secret  and  some  very  audible  surmises  and  wonder- 
ings  on  the  part  of  their  immediate  neighbors,  wftich  were 
duly  reported,  devoutly  believed,  and  invariably  added  to, 
in  the  course  of  their  diffusion  in  Montacute. 

I  might  repeat  what  I  heard  at  a  Montacute  tea-party ; 
I  might  give  Mrs.  Flyter's  views  of  the  probable  duration 
of  Mr.  Brent's  means  of  living  on  the  occasion  of  having 
learned  from  Mrs.  Holbrook  that  Mrs.  Brent  did  not  see  to 
the  butter-making,  and  had  never  milked  a  cow  in  her  life. 
I  might  repeat  Mrs.  Allerton's  estimate  of  the  cost  of  Mrs. 
Brent's  dress  at  meeting  on  a  certain  Sunday.  But  I  shall 
only  tell  what  Mrs.  Nippers  said,  for  I  consider  her  as 
unimpeachable  authority  in  such  matters.  Her  decided 
and  solemn  assertion  was  that  Mrs.  Brent  was  jealous. 

'  Jealous  of  whom  ?' 

'  Why,  of  Mr.  Brent  to  be  sure  !' 

'  But  it  is  to  be  supposed  that  there  is  some  body  else 
concerned.' 

'  Ah,  yes  !  but  I  do  n't  know.  Mrs.  Barton  did  n't 
know.' 

'  0,  it  was  Mrs.  Barton  who  told  you,  then  ?' 

Mrs.  Nippers  had   declined   giving   her   authority,  and 

Mrs.  Barton  was  the  wife   of  Mr.  Brent's  farmer.     So  she 

colored  a  little,  and  said  that  she  did  not  wish  it  repeated, 

as  Mrs.  Barton  had  mentioned  it  to  her  in  confidence.     But 

19* 


222  A   NEW    HOME, 

since  it  had  come  out  by  mere  chance,  she  did  n't  know  but 
she  might  just  as  well  tell  that  Mrs.  Barton  was  sure  that 
Mrs.  Brent  was  jealous  of  some  body  in  England,  or  some 
body  that  was  dead,  she  did  n't  know  which.  She  hoped 
that  none  of  the  ladies  would  mention  it. 

There  were  some  fourteen  or  so  in  company,  and  they 
had  not  yet  had  tea.  After  tea  the  poor  Brents  were 
completely  '  used  up,'  to  borrow  a  phrase  much  in  vogue 
with  usjk-and  the  next  day  I  was  not  much  surprised  at 
being  asked  by  a  lady  who  made  me  a  three  hours' 
morning  call,  beginning  at  nine  o'clock,  if  I  had  heard  that 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Brent  were  going  to  '  part.' 

I  declared  my  ignorance  of  anything  so  terrible,  and  tried 
to  trace  back  the  news,  but  it  must  have  passed  through 
several  able  hands  before  it  came  to  me. 

We  rode  over  to  see  the  Brents  that  afternoon,  found 
them  as  usual,  save  that  Mrs.  Brent  seemed  wasting, 
but  she  always  declared  herself  quite  well ;  and  her  hus 
band,  whose  manner  towards  her  is  that  of  great  tender 
ness,  yet  not  exactly  that  of  husbands  in  general,  a  little 
constrained,  was  reading  aloud  to  her  as  she  lay  on  the 
sofa.  They  seemed  pleased  to  see  us,  and  promised  an 
afternoon  next  week,  to  meet  a  'few  friends,' — that  is 
the  term,  I  believe, — but  not  Mrs.  Nippers. 

Among  those  whom  I  invited  to  partake  our  strawberries 
and  cream  on  the  occasion,  were  Mr.  Cathcart  and  his 
beautiful  wife,  English  neighbors  from  a  little  vine-clad 
cottage  on  the  hill  west  of  our  village ;  much  older 
residents  than  the  Brents,  who  had  not  yet  been  a  year 
in  our  vicinity.  Mrs.  Cathcart  is  one  of  the  most  beautiful 
women  I  have  ever  seen,  and  certainly  a  very  charming 
one  in  all  respects,  at  least  to  me,  who  do  not  dislike  a 


WHO'LL    FOLLOW?  223 

good  share  of  spirit  and  energy  in  a  lady.  Her  spouse, 
though  far  different,  has  his  good  points,  and  can  make 
himself  agreeable  enough  when  he  is  in  the  humor ;  which 
sometimes  occurs,  though  not  often.  He  is  at  least  twenty 
years  older  than  his  lady,  and  as  ugly  as  she  is  handsome, 
and  horribly  jealous,  I  say  it  myself,  of  everything  and 
everybody  which  or  whom  Mrs.  Cathcart  may  chance 
to  look  at  or  speak  to,  or  take  an  interest  in,  gentle  or 
simple,  animate  or  inanimate.  It  is  really  pitiable  some 
times  to  see  the  poor  man  grin  in  the  effort  to  suppress  the 
overboiling  of  his  wrath,  for  he  is  a  very  polite  person,  and 
generally  says  the  most  disagreeable  things  with  a  smile. 

These  neighbors  of  ours  are  persons  of  taste — taste  in 
pictures,  in  music,  in  books,  in  flowers ;  and  thus  far  they 
are  well  mated  enough.  But  there  are  certain  glances 
and  tones  which  betray  to  the  most  careless  observer 
that  there  are  points  of  difference,  behind  the  scenes  at 
least ;  and  little  birds  have  whispered  that  after  Mrs.  Cath 
cart  had  spent  the  morning  in  transplanting  flowers,  train 
ing  her  honeysuckles  and  eglantines,  and  trimming  the 
turf  seats  which  are  tastefully  disposed  round  their  pretty 
cottage,  Mr.  Cathcart  has  been  seen  to  come  out  and 
destroy  all  she  had  been  doing  ;  ploughing  up  the  neat 
flower-beds  with  his  knife,  tearing  down  the  vines,  and 
covering  the  turf  sofas  with  gravel.  And  the  same  little 
birds  have  added,  that  when  Mr.  Cathcart,  sated  with 
mischief,  turned  to  go  into  the  house  again,  he  found 
the  front-door  fastened,  and  then  the  back-door  fastened  ; 
and  after  striding  about  for  some  time  till  his  bald  head 
was  well  nigh  fried,  he  was  fain  to  crawl  in  at  the  little 

latticed  window,  and  then but  further  these  deponents 

say  not. 


224  A    NEW    HOME, 

Well !  our  little  strawberry  party  was  to  consist  of  these 
English  neighbors  and  some  others,  and  I  made  due  provision 
of  the  fragrant  rubies,  and  all  the  et-ceteras  of  a  rural 
tea- visit.  Roses  of  all  hues  blushed  in  my  vases — a-hem ! 
they  were  not  pitchers,  for  the  handles  were  broken  off — 
and  forests  of  asparagus  filled  the  fire  place.  Alice  and 
Arthur  figured  in  their  Sundays,  little  Bell  had  a  new 
calico  apron,  and  Charlie  a  shining  clean  face ;  so  we 
were  all  ready. 

First  of  all  came  the  Cathcarts,  and  their  one  only  and 
odd  son  of  three  years  old ;  a  child  who  looked  as  old  as 
his  father,  and  walked  and  talked  most  ludicrously  like 
him.  It  did  seem  really  a  pity  that  the  uncommonly  fine 
eyes  of  his  beautiful  mamma  had  not  descended  to  'him ; 
those  large-pupiled  grey  eyes,  with  their  long  black  lashes ! 
and  her  richest  of  complexions,  brighter  in  bloom  and 
contrast  than  the  sunniest  side  of  a  ripe  peach ;  and  her 
thousand  graces  of  face  and  person.  But  there  he  was, 
a  frightful  little  dwarf,  just  what  his  father  would  seem, 
looked  at  through  a  reversed  telescope,  or  in  a  convex 
mirror.  And  Mr.  Cathcart  was  all  smiles  and  politeness, 
and  brought  a  whole  pocket-full  of  literary  novelties  lately 
received  from  'home.'  And  Mrs.  Cathcart,  always  charm 
ing,  looked  lovelier  than  usual,  in  a  pale-colored  silk  and 
very  delicate  ornaments. 

She  was  sitting  at  the  piano,  playing  some  brilliant 
waltzes  for  the  children,  and  Mr.  Cathcart  looking  over 
some  New  York  papers  which  lay  on  the  table,  when  Mrs. 
Brent,  wan  and  feeble  as  usual,  glided  into  the  room. 
I  introduced  her  to  my  guests,  with  whom  she  was 
evidently  unacquainted,  and  in  the  next  moment  Mr.  Brent 
entered. 


WHO'LL    FOLLOW?  225 

It  needed  but  one  glance  to  convince  me  that,  to  Mrs. 
Cathcart  at  least,-  there  was  no  occasion  to  introduce  the 
latest  comer.  She  half  rose  from  her  seat,  painful  blushes 
overspread  her  beautiful  countenance,  and  instantly  subsi 
ding  left  it  deathly  pale,  while  Mr.  Brent  seemed  equally 
discomposed,  and  Mr.  Cathcart  gazed  in  undisguised  and 
most  angry  astonishment.  I  went  through  with  the  cere 
mony  of  presentation  as  well  as  I  could,  awkwardly  enough, 
and  an  embarrassed  pause  succeeded,  when  in  walked 
Mrs.  Nippers  and  Miss  Clinch. 

'  Well,  good  folks,'  said  the  widow,  fanning  herself  with 
a  wide  expanse  of  turkey's  feathers,  which  generally  hung 
on  her  arm  in  warm  weather ;  '  this  is  what  you  may  call 
toiling  for  pleasure.  Mrs.  Cathcart,  how  do  you  manage 
to  get  out  in  such  melting  weather  ?  Well !  I  declare  you 
do  all  look  as  if  you  was  overcome  by  the  weather  or  some 
thing  else !'  and  she  laughed  very  pleasantly  at  her 
own  wit. 

'Warm  or  cool,  I  beiieve  we  had  better  return  home, 
Mrs.  Cathcart,'  said  her  amiable  spouse,  with  one  of  his 
ineffable  grins.  She  obeyed  mechanically,  and  began  put 
ting  her  own  straw  bonnet  on  little  Algernon. 

'  I  declare,'  said  the  agreeable  Mrs.  Campaspe,  '  I 
thought — I  was  in  hopes  you  were  going  to  stay,  and  we 
-ould  have  had  such  a  nice  sociable  time  ;'  for  Mrs.  Nippers 
was  very  fond  of  inviting  company — to  other  people's 
houses. 

'  No,  Madam  !'  said  Mr.  Cathcart,  '  we  must  go  instantly. 
Fanny,  what  are  you  doing  ?  Can't  you  tie  the  child's 
hat?' 

'  One  word,  sir !'  said  Mr.  Brent,  whose  fine  countenance 
had  undergone  a  thousand  changes  in  the  few  moments 


226  A    NEW    HOME, 

which  have  taken  so  many  lines  in  telling :  and  he  stepped 
into  the  garden  path  with  a  bow  which  Mr.  Cathcart 
returned  very  stiffly.  He  followed,  however,  and,  in  less 
than  one  minute,  returned,  wished  us  a  very  good  day  with 
more  than  the  usual  proportion  of  smiles — rather  grinnish 
ones,  't  is  true ;  but  very  polite  ;  and  almost  lifting  his  trem 
bling  wife  into  the  vehicle,  which  still  stood  at  the  gate, 
drove  off  at  a  furious  rate. 

And  how  looked  the  pale  and  gentle  Catherine  during 
this  brief  scene  ?  As  one  who  feels  the  death-stroke  ;  like 
a  frail  blighted  lily. 

And  beside  her  stood  in  silence 

One  with  a  brow  as  pale, 
And  white  lips  rigidly  compress'd 

Lest  the  strong  heart  should  fail. 

*  Your  ride  has  been  too  much  for  you,  Mrs.  Brent,'  said 
I;  'you  must  rest  awhile;'  and  I  drew  her  into  a  small 
room  adjoining  the  parlor,  to  avoid  the  industrious  eyes  of 
Mrs.  Nippers. 

She  spoke  not,  but  her  eyes  thanked  me,  and  I  left  her, 
to  receive  other  guests.  Mrs.  Nippers  made  a  very  faint 
move  to  depart  when  she  began  to  perceive  that  company 
had  been  invited. 

'  Remain  to  tea,  Mrs.  Nippers,'  I  said, — could  one  say 
less  ? — and  she  simpered,  and  said  she  was  hardly  decent, 

but and  added  in  a  stage-whisper,  '  If  you  could  lend 

me  a  smart  cap  and  cape,  I  don't  know  but  I  would.' 
So  she  was  ushered  in  due  form  to  my  room,  with  unbound 
ed  choice  in  a  very  narrow  circle  of  caps  and  capes,  and  a 
pair  of  thin  shoes,  and  then  clean  stockings,  were  success 
ively  added  as  decided  improvements  to  her  array.  And 
when  she  made  her  appearance  in  the  state-apartments,  she 
looked,  as  she  said  herself,  '  pretty  scrumptious ;'  but  took 


WHO'LL    FOLLOW?  227 

an  early  opportunity  to  whisper,  '  I  did  n't  know  where 
you  kept  your  pocket-handkerchiefs.'  So  Alice  was 
despatched  for  one,  and  the  lady  was  complete. 

Mr.  Brent,  with  Bella  in  his  arms,  paced  the  garden 
walk,  pretending  to  amuse  the  child,  but  evidently  agitated 
and  unhappy. 

'  Did  you  ever  see  anything  so  odd  ?'  whispered  Mrs. 
Nippers,  darting  a  glance  toward  the  garden. 

But  fortunately,  the  person  honored  by  her  notice  was 
all  unconscious  ;  and  happening  to  observe  his  wife  as  he 
passed  the  low  window  in  the  little -west-room,  he  stopped 
a  few  moments  in  low  and  earnest  conversation  with  her. 
It  was  not  long  before  Mrs.  Brent  appeared,  and,  apologiz 
ing  with  much  grace,  said,  that  feeling  a  little  better,  she 
would  prefer  returning  home.  I  took  leave  of  her  with 
regretful  presentiments. 

In  less  than  a  week,  Mrs.  Nippers  had  more  than  she 
could  attend  to.  The  Brents  had  left  the  country,  and 
Mrs.  Cathcart  was  alarmingly  ill.  The  unfortunate  straw 
berry-party  so  unexpectedly  marred  by  this  rencontre,  was 
the  theme  of  every  convention  within  five  miles,  to  speak 
moderately ;  and  by  the  time  the  story  reached  home 
again,  its  own  mother  could  not  have  recognized  it. 

A  letter  from  Mr.  Brent  to  say  farewell  and  a  little  more, 
gave  us  in  a  few  words  the  outlines  of  a  sad  story  ;  and 
while  all  Montacute  is  ringing  with  one  of  which  not  the 
smallest  particular  is  lacking,  I  am  not  at  liberty  to  disclose 
more  of  the  '  OWRE  TRUE  TALE,'  than  the  reader  will  already 
have  conjectured — '  a  priory  'tachment.' 

The  way  Mrs.  Nippers  rolls  up  her  eyes  when  the  Eng 
lish  are  mentioned  is  certainly  '  a  caution.' 


228  A    NEW    HOME, 


CHAPTER  XXXVI. 

Away  with  these!  true  wisdom's  world  will  be 

Within  its  own  creation,  or  in  thine, 

Maternal  Nature!  *  *  * 

Are  not  the  mountains,  waves  and  skies  a  part 

Of  me  and  of  my  soul,  as  I  of  them  ? 

Is  not  the  love  of  these  deep  in  my  heart 

With  a  pure  passion? 

CHILDE  HAROLD.— Canto  III. 

WHEN  we  first  took  our  delighted  abode  in  the  '  framed 
house,'  a  palace  of  some  twenty  by  thirty  feet,  flanked  by 
a  shanty  kitchen,  and  thatched  with  oak  shingles, — a  sober 
neighbor,  who  having  passed  most  of  his  life  in  the  country, 
is  extremely  philosophical  on  the  follies  of  civilization,  took 
my  husband  to  task  on  the  appearance  of  the  ghost  of  a 
departed  parlor  carpet,  which  he  said  wTas  'introducing 
luxury.'  Whether  from  this  bad  example,  I  cannot  tell, 
but  it  is  certain  that  our  neighbors ,  are  many  of  them 
beginning  to  perceive  that  carpets  '  save  trouble.'  Women 
are  the  most  reasonable  beings  in  the  world ;  at  least,  I  am 
sure  nobody  ever  catches  a  woman  without  an  unanswerable 
reason  for  anything  she  wishes  to  do.  Mrs.  Micah  Bal- 
whidder  only  wanted  a  silver  tea-pot,  because,  as  all  the 
world  knows,  tea  tastes  better  out  of  silver ;  and  Mrs. 
Primrose  loved  her  crimson  paduasoy,  merely  because  her 
husband  had  happened  to  say  it  became  her. 

Of  the  mingled  mass  of  our  country  population,  a  goodly 
and   handsome    proportion — goodly   as   to    numbers   and 


WHO'LL     FOLLOW?  229 

handsome  as  to  cheeks  and  lips,  and  thews  and  sinews, 
consists  of  young  married  people  just  beginning  the  world  ; 
simple  in  their  habits,  moderate  in  their  aspirations,  and 
hoarding  a  little  of  old-fashioned  romance,  unconsciously 
enough,  in  the  secret  nooks  of  their  rustic  hearts.  These 
find  no  fault  with  their  bare  loggeries.  With  a  shelter  and 
a  handful  of  furniture  they  have  enough.  If  there  is  the 
wherewithal  to  spread  a  warm  supper  for  '  th'  old  man ' 
when  he  comes  in  from  work,  the  young  wife  forgets  the 
long,  solitary,  wordless  day,  and  asks  no  greater  happiness 
than  preparing  it  by  the  help  of  such  materials  and  such 
utensils  as  would  be  looked  at  with  utter  contempt  in  a 
comfortable  kitchen ;  and  then  the  youthful  pair  sit  down 
and  enjoy  it  together,  with  a  zest  that  the  '  orgies  parfaites ' 
of  the  epicure  can  never  awaken.  What  lack  they  that  this 
world  can  bestow  ?  They  have  youth  and  health,  and 
love  and  hope,  occupation  and  amusement,  and  when  you 
have  added  '  meat,  clothes,  and  fire/  what  more  has  Eng 
land's  fair  young  queen  ?  These  people  are  contented,  of 
course. 

There  is  another  class  of  settlers  neither  so  numerous  nor 
so  happy  ;  people,  who  have  left  small  farms  in  the  east 
ward  States,  and  come  to  Michigan  with  the  hope  of 
acquiring  property  at  a  more  rapid  rate.  They  have  sold 
off,  perhaps  at  considerable  pecuniary  disadvantage,  the 
home  of  their  early  married  life ;  sacrificed  the  convenient 
furniture  which  had  become  necessary  to  daily  comfort,  and 
only  awake  when  it  is  too  late,  to  the  fact  that  it  kills  old 
vines  to  tear  them  from  their  clinging-places.  These  people 
are  much  to  be  pitied,  the  women  especially. 


The  ladies  first 
'Gin  murmur— as  becomes  the  softer  sex. 


20 


230  A    NEW    HOME, 

Woman's  little  world  is  overclouded  for  lack  of  the  old 
familiar  means  and  appliances.  The  husband  goes  to  his 
work  with  the  same  axe  or  hoe  which  fitted  his  hand  in  his 
old  woods  and  fields,  he  tills  the  same  soil,  or  perhaps  a 
far  richer  and  more  hopeful  one — he  gazes  on  the  same 
book  of  nature  which  he  has  read  from  his  infancy,  and 
sees  only  a  fresher  and  more  glowing  page  ;  and  he  returns 
to  his  home  with  the  sun,  strong  in  heart  and  full  of  self- 
gratulation  on  the  favorable  change  in  his  lot.  But  he 
finds  the  home-bird  drooping  and  disconsolate.  She  has 
been  looking  in  vain  for  the  reflection  of  any  of  the 
cherished  features  of  her  own  dear  fire-side.  She  has 
found  a  thousand  deficiencies  which  her  rougher  mate  can 
scarce  be  taught  to  feel  as  evils.  What  cares  he  if  the 
time-honored  cupboard  is  meagerly  represented  by  a  few 
oak-boards  lying  on  pegs  and  called  shelves  ?  His  tea- 
equipage  shines  as  it  was  wont — the  biscuits  can  hardly 
stay  on  the  brightly  glistening  plates.  Will  he  find  fault 
with  the  clay-built  oven,  or  even  the  tin  '  reflector  ?'  His 
bread  never  was  better  baked.  What  does  he  want  with 
the  great  old  cushioned  rocking-chair  ?  When  he  is  tired 
he  goes  to  bed,  for  he  is  never  tired  till  bed-time.  Women 
are  the  grumblers  in  Michigan,  and  they  have  some 
apology.  Many  of  them  have  made  sacrifices  for  which 
they  were  not  at  all  prepared,  and  which  detract  largely 
from  their  every-day  stores  of  comfort.  The  conviction  of 
good  accruing  on  a  large  scale  does  not  prevent  the 
wearing  sense  of  minor  deprivations. 

Another  large  class  of  emigrants  is  composed  of  people 
of  broken  fortunes,  or  who  have  been  unsuccessful  in  past 
undertakings.  These  like  or  dislike  the  country  on  various 
grounds,  as  their  peculiar  condition  may  vary.  Those  who 


WHO'LL    FOLLOW?  231 

are  fortunate  or  industrious,  look  at  their  new  home  with  a 
kindly  eye.  Those  who  learn  by  experience  that  idlers  are 
no  better  off  in  Michigan  than  elsewhere,  can  find  no  term 
too  virulent  in  which  to  express  their  angry  disappointment. 
The  profligate  and  unprincipled  lead  stormy  and  uncomforta 
ble  lives  any  where  ;  and  Michigan,  now  at  least,  begins  to  re 
gard  such  characters  among  her  adopted  children,  with  a  stern 
and  unfriendly  eye,  so  that  the  few  who  may  have  come  among 
us,  hoping  for  the  unwatched  and  unbridled  license  which 
we  read  of  in  regions  nearer  to  the  setting  sun,  find  them 
selves  marked  and  shunned  as  in  the  older  world. 

As  women  feel  sensibly  the  deficiencies  of  the  '  salvage ' 
state,  so  they  are  the  first  to  attempt  the  refining  process, 
the  introduction  of  those  important  nothings  on  which  so 
much  depends.  Small  additions  to  the  more  delicate  or 
showy  part  of  the  household  gear  are  accomplished  by  the 
aid  of  some  little  extra  personal  exertion.  '  Spinning 
money  '  buys  a  looking-glass  perhaps,  or  '  butter  money  '  a 
nice  cherry  table.  Eglantines  and  wood-vine,  or  wild- 
cucumber,  are  sought  and  transplanted  to  shade  the 
windows.  Narrow  beds  round  the  house  are  bright  with 
balsams  and  sweet-williams,  four-o'clocks,  poppies  and 
marigolds ;  and  if  '  th*  old  man '  is  good  natured,  a  little 
gate  takes  the  place  of  the  great  awkward  bars  before  the 
door.  By  and  by  a  few  apple-trees  are  set  out ;  sweet 
briers  grace  the  door  yard,  and  lilacs  and  currant-bushes ; 
all  by  female  effort — at  least  I  have  never  yet  happened  to 
see  it  otherwise  where  these  improvements  have  been  made 
at  all.  They  are  not  all  accomplished  by  her  own  hand 
indeed,  but  hers  is  the  moving  spirit,  and  if  she  do  her 
'  spiriting  gently,'  and  has  any  thing  but  a  Caliban  for  a 
minister,  she  can  scarcely  fail  to  throw  over  the  real  home- 


232  A    NEW    HOME, 

liness  of  her  lot  something  of  the  magic  of  that  IDEAL 
which  has  been  truely  sung — 

Nymph  of  our  soul,  and  brightener  of  our  being ; 
She  makes  the  common  waters  musical — 
Binds  the  rude  night-winds  in  a  silver  thrall, 
Bids  Hybla's  thyme  and  Tempe's  violet  dwell 
Round  the  green  marge  of  her  moon-haunted  cell. 

£  *  *  *  *  #  * 

This  shadowy  power,  or  power  of  shadows,  is  the  '  arch- van 
quisher  of  time  and  care  '  every  where ;  but  most  of  all  needed 
in  the  waveless  calm  of  a  strictly  woodland  life,  and  there 
most  enjoyed.  The  lovers  of  'unwritten  poetry'  may  find 
it  in  the  daily  talk  of  our  rustic  neighbors  —  in  their 
superstitions  —  in  the  remedies  which  they  propose  for 
every  ill  of  humanity,  the  ideal  makes  the  charm  of  their 
life  as  it  does  that  of  all  the  world's,  peer  and  poet,  wood 
cutter  and  serving-maid. 

After  allowing  due  weight  to  the  many  disadvantages 
and  trials  of  a  new-country  life,  it  would  scarce  be  fair  to 
pass  without  notice  the  compensating  power  of  a  feeling, 
inherent  as  I  believe,  in  our  universal  nature,  which  rejoices 
in  that  freedom  from  the  restraints  of  pride  and  ceremony 
which  is  found  only  in  a  new  country.  To  borrow  from  a 
brilliant  writer  of  our  own,  '  I  think  we  have  an  instinct, 
dulled  by  civilization,  which  is  like  the  caged  eaglet's,  or 
the  antelope's  that  is  reared  in  the  Arab's  tent ;  an  instinct 
of  nature  that  scorns  boundary  and  chain  ;  that  yearns  to 
the  free  desert ;  that  would  have  the  earth  like  the  sky, 
unappropriated  and  open ;  that  rejoices  in  immeasurable 
liberty  of  foot  and  dwelling-place,  and  springs  passionately 
back  to  its  freedom,  even  after  years  of  subduing  method 
and  spirit-breaking  confinement !' 

This  'instinct,'  so  beautifully  noticed  by  Willis,  is  what 


WHO'LL    FOLLOW?  233 

I  would  point  to  as  the  compensating  power  of  the  wilder 
ness.  Those  who  are  '  to  the  manner  born '  feel  this  most 
sensibly,  and  pity  with  all  their  simple  hearts  the  walled- 
u p  denizens  of  the  city.  And  the  transplanted  ones — 
those  who  have  been  used  to  no  forests  but  'forests  of 
chimneys,'  though  '  the  parted  bosom  clings  to  wonted 
home/  soon  learn  to  think  nature  no  step-mother,  and  to 
discover  many  redeeming  points  even  in  the  half-wild  state 
at  first  so  uncongenial. 

That  this  love  of  unbounded  and  unceremonious  liberty  is 
a  natural  and  universal  feeling,  needs  no  argument  to 
show  ;  I  am  only  applying  it  on  a  small  scale  to  the  novel 
condition  in  which  I  find  myself  in  the  woods  of  Michigan. 
I  ascribe  much  of  the  placid  contentment,  which  seems  the 
heritage  of  rural  life,  to  the  constant  familiarity  with  woods 
and  waters — 

All  that  the  genial  ray  of  morning  gilds, 

And  all  that  echoes  to  the  song  of  even ; 
All  that  the  mountain's  sheltering  bosom  yields, 

And  all  the  dread  magnificence  of  heaven — 

to  the  harmony  which  the  Creator  has  instituted  between 
the  animate  and  inanimate  works  of  His  hands. 

Authorities  crowd  upon  me,  and  I  must  be  allowed  to 
close  my  chapter  with  a  favorite  paragraph  from  Hazlilt. 

'  The  heart  reposes  in  greater  security  on  the  immensity 
of  Nature's  works,  expatiates  freely  there,  and  finds  elbow- 
room  and  breathing-space.  We  are  always  at  home  with 
Nature.  There  is  neither  hypocrisy,  caprice,  nor  mental 
reservation  in  her  favors.  Our  intercourse  with  her  is  not 
liable  to  accident  or  change,  suspicion  or  disappointment : 
she  smiles  on  us  still  the  same.  *  *  In  our  love  of 
Nature  there  is  all  the  force  of  individual  attachment,  com 
bined  with  the  most  airy  abstraction.  It  is  this  circumstance 
20* 


234  A    NEW    HOME, 

which  gives  that  refinement,  expansion  and  wild  interest  to 
feelings  of  this  sort.  *  *  Thus  Nature  is  a  sort  of 
universal  home,  and  every  object  it  presents  to  us  an  old 
acquaintance,  with  unaltered  looks ;  for  there  is  that  con 
stant  and  mutual  harmony  among  all  her  works  —  one 
undivided  spirit  pervading  them  throughout — that  to  him 
who  has  well  acquainted  himself  with  them,  they  sp<3ak 
always  the  same  well-known  language,  striking  on  the 
heart  amidst  unquiet  thoughts  and  the  tumult  of  the  world, 
like  the  music  of  one's  native  tongue  heard  in  some  far-off 
country/ 


WHO'LL    FOLLOW?  235 


CHAPTER  XXXVII. 

Per  mezz'  i  boschi  inospiti  e  selvaggi 

Onde  vanno  a  gran  rischio  uomini,  ed  arme 

Vo  secur'  io ;  che  non  pud  spaventarme 

Aitri,  che  '1  Sol1— 

E  vo  cantando — 

Raro  ua  silenzio,  un  solitario  orrore 

D'ombrosa  selva  mai  tanto  mi  piacque. 

PKTRARCA,  Son.  CXLI1. 

A.  BRIDLE-PATH  through  the  deep  woods  which  lie  south 
west  of  our  village  had  long  been  a  favorite  walk  on  those 
few  days  of  our  boreal  summer,  when  shade  had  seemed  an 
essential  element  of  comfort.  The  forest  itself  is  so  entirely 
cumbered  with  shrubs  and  tangled  vines,  that  to  effect 
even  a  narrow  path  through  it  had  been  a  work  of  no  little 
time  and  labor;  and,  as  no  money  was  likely  to  flow  in 
upon  us  from  that  direction,  I  had  no  fears  of  a  road,  but 
considered  the  whole  as  a  magnificent  pleasaunce  for  the 
special  delight  of  those  who  can  discern  glory  and  splendor 
in  grass  and  wild-flowers. 

We  lacked  not  carpets,  for  there  was  the  velvet  sward, 
embroidered  with  blossoms,  whose  gemmy  tints  can  never 
be  equalled  in  Brussels  or  in  Persia;  nor  canopy,  for  an 
emerald  dome  was  over  us,  full  of  trembling  light,  and 
festooned  and  tasselled  with  the  starry  eglantine,  the 
pride  of  our  Western  woods ;  nor  pillars,  nor  arches ;  for,  0 
beloved  forests  of  my  country !  where  can  your  far-sound 
ing  aisles  be  matched  for  grandeur,  your  *  alleys  green '  for 


236  A    NEW    HOME, 

beauty  ?  We  had  music  too,  fairy  music,  '  gushes  of  wild 
song,'  soft,  sighing  murmurs,  such  as  flow  from 

The  convolutions  of  a  smooth-lipped  shell, 

and  recalling,  like  those  other  murmurs,  the  summer  swell 
of  the  distant  ocean ;  and  withal,  the  sound  of  a  bubbling 
stream,  which  was  ever  and  anon  sweetly  distinct  amid  the 
delicate  harmony. 

Many  a  dreamy  hour  have  I  wandered  in  this  delicious 
solitude,  not  *  book-bosomed ;'  for,  at  such  times,  my  rule 
is  peu  lire,  penser  beaucoup ;  nor  yet  moralizing,  like  the 
melancholy  Jaques,  on  the  folly  and  inconstancy  of  the 
world ;  but  just  '  daundering,'  to  borrow  an  expression 
from  Mr.  Gait ;  perhaps  Fanny  Kemble  would  have  said 
'  dawdling ;'  so  I  leave  the  choice  with  my  reader,  and 
make  an  effort  to  get  on  with  my  story,  which  seems  as 
much  inclined  to  loiter  in  my  favorite  wood  as  I  am  my 
self. 

I  had  never  ventured  far  from  Montacute  in  my  strolls 
with  the  children,  or  with  my  female  friends.  To  say 
nothing  of  my  sad  paresse, — I  hate  it  in  English,  but  •'  't  is 
not  half  so  shocking  in  French ;' — not  to  mention  that  at 
all,  there  are  other  '  lions  in  the  way ;'  massasaugas  for 
instance,  and  Indians,  and  blue  racers,  six  or  eight  feet 
long,  and  as  thick  as  a  man's  arm ;  '  harmless,'  say  the 
initiated,  but  fen  doute,  and  my  prime  and  practical 
favorite  among  mottoes  and  maxims  is  '  'ware  snakes !'  then 
toads ;  but  if  I  once  mount  a  toad,  I  shall  not  get  back  this 
great  while. 

It  so  happened  that  one  morning  when  the  atmosphere 
was  particularly  transparent,  and  the  shower-laid  earth  in 
delicious  order  for  a  ride,  I  had  an  invitation  from  my 
husband  for  a  stroll — a  '  splorification  '  on  horseback  ;  and 


WHO'LL    FOLLOW?  237 

right  joyously  did  I  endue  myself  with  the  gear  proper  to 
such  woodcraft,  losing  not  a  moment,  for  once,  that  I  might 
be  ready  for  my  '  beautiful  Orelio,'  old  Jupiter,  when  he 
should  come  round.  We  mounted,  and  sought  at  once 
the  dim  wood  of  which  I  have  been  speaking. 

We  followed  the  bridle-path  for  miles,  finding  scarcely  a 
trace  of  human  life.  We  scared  many  a  grey  rabbit,  and 
many  a  bevy  of  quails,  and  started  at  least  one  noble  buck : 
I  said  two,  but  may  be  the  same  one  was  all  around  us, 
for  so  it  seemed.  I  took  the  opportunity  of  trying  old 
Jupiter's  nerves  and  the  woodland  echoes,  by  practising 
poor  Malibran's  '  Tourment  d' Amour,'  at  the  expense  of  the 
deepest  recess  of  my  lungs,  while  my  companion  pretended 
to  be  afraid  he  could  not  manage  Prince,  and  finally  let 
him  go  off  at  half  speed.  Old  Jupiter,  he  is  deaf  I  believe, 
jogged  on  as  before,  and  I  still  amused  myself  by  arousing 
the  Dryads,  and  wondering  whether  they  ever  heard  a 
Swiss  refrain  before,  when  I  encountered  a  sportsman, 
belted,  pouched,  gunned,  and  dogged,  quite  comme  il  faut, 
and  withal,  wearing  very  much  such  a  face  as  Adonis  must 
have  looked  at  when  he  arrayed  himself  at  the  fountain. 

What  an  adventure  for  a  sober  village  matron !  I  almost 
think  I  must  have  blushed.  At  least  I  am  sure  I  must 
have  done  so  had  the  affair  happened  only  ten  years 
earlier. 

I  thought  seriously  of  apologizing  to  the  stranger  for 
singing  in  the  woods,  of  which  he  seemed  like  the  tutelar 
deity;  but  fortunately  Mr.  Clavers  at  this  moment  re 
turned,  and  soon  engaged  him  in  conversation ;  and  it  was 
not  long  before  he  offered  to  show  us  a  charming  variety  in 
the  landscape,  if  we  would  ride  on  for  a  quarter  of  a  mile. 

We   had   been   traversing  a  level  tract,  which  we  had 


238  A    NEW    HOME, 

supposed  lay  rather  low  than  high.  In  a  few  minutes,  we 
found  ourselves  on  the  very  verge  of  a  miniature  precipice ; 
a  bluff  which  overhung  what  must  certainly  have  been 
originally  a  lake,  though  it  is  now  a  long  oval-shaped  valley 
of  several  miles  in  extent,  beautifully  diversified  with  wood 
and  prairie,  and  having  a  lazy,  quiet  stream  winding 
through  it,  like — like — '  like  a  snake  in  a  bottle  of  spirits  ;' 
or  like  a  long  strip  of  apple-paring,  when  you  have  thrown 
it  over  your  head  to  try  what  letter  it  will  make  on  the 
carpet ;  or  like  the  course  of  a  certain  great  politician  whom 
we  all  know.  My  third  attempt  hits  it  exactly,  neither  of 
the  others  was  crooked  enough. 

The  path  turned  short  to  the  right,  and  began,  not  far 
from  where  we  stood,  to  descend,  as  if  to  reach  at  some 
distance  and  by  a  wide  sweep,  the  green  plain  below  us. 
This  path  looked  quite  rocky  and  broken  ;  so  much  so,  that 
I  longed  to  try  it,  but  my  companion  thought  it  time  to 
return  home. 

'  Let  me  first  have  the  pleasure  of  showing  you  my 
cottage,'  said  our  handsome  guide,  whose  air  had  a  curious 
mixture  of  good-breeding  with  that  sort  of  rustic  freedom 
and  abruptness,  which  is  the  natural  growth  of  the  wilder 
ness.  As  he  spoke,  he  pointed  out  a  path  in  the  wood, 
which  we  could  not  help  following,  and  which  brought  us 
in  a  few  minutes  to  a  beautiful  opening,  looking  on  the 
basin  below  the  bluff  on  one  side,  and  on  the  deep  woods 
on  the  other.  And  there  was  a  long,  low,  irregularly- 
shaped  house,  built  of  rich  brown  tamarack  logs,  nearly 
new,  and  looking  so  rural  and  lovely  that  I  longed  to  alight. 
Every  thing  about  the  house  was  just  as  handsome  and 
picturesque-looking  as  the  owner ;  and  still  more  attractive 
was  the  fair  creature  who  was  playing  with  a  little  girl 


WHO'LL    F  0  L  L  O  W  ?  239 

under  the  tall  oaks  near  the  cottage.  She  came  forward  to 
welcome  us  with  a  grace  which  was  evidently  imported 
from  some  civilized  region  ;  and  as  she  drew  near,  I  recog 
nized  at  once  an  old  school-friend  :  the  very  Cora  Mansfield 

who  used  to  be  my  daughter  at  Mrs. 's  ;  at  least  the 

dozenth  old  acquaintance  I  have  met  accidentally  since  we 
came  to  the  new  world. 

Mutual  introductions  of  our  honored  spouses  were  now 
duly  performed,  and  we  of  Montacute  did  not  refuse  to 
alight  and  make  such  short  tarry  with  our  ten-mile  neigh 
bors,  as  the  lateness  of  the  hour  permitted.  We  found  the 
house  quite  capacious  and  well  divided,  and  furnished  as 
neatly  though  far  less  ostentatiously  than  a  cottage  ornee  in 
the  vicinity  of  some  great  metropolis.  There  was  a  great 
chintz-covered  sofa — a  very  jewel  for  your  siesta — and 
some  well-placed  lounges ;  and,  in  an  embayed  Avindow 
draperied  with  wild  vines,  a  reading-chair  of  the  most 
luxurious  proportions,  with  its  foot-cushion  and  its  pro 
longed  rockers.  Neat,  compact  presses,  filled  with  books, 
new  as  well  as  old,  and  a  cabinet  piano-forte,  made  up 
nearly  all  the  plenishin',  but  there  was  enough.  The  whole 
was  just  like  a  young  lady's  dream,  and  Cora  and  her  Thai- 
aba  of  a  husband  looked  just  fit  to  enjoy  it. 

The  contrast  was  amusing  enough  when  I  recalled  where 
I  had  last  seen  Cora.  It  was  at  a  fancy  ball  at  Mrs. 

L 's,  when  she  was  a  little,  dimpled,  pink-and-silver 

maid  of  honor  to  Mary  of  Scots,  or  some  such  great  per 
sonage,  flitting  about  like  a  humming-bird  over  a  honey 
suckle,  and  flirting  most  atrociously  with  the  half-fledged 
little  beaux  who  hung  on  her  footsteps.  She  looked  far 
lovelier  in  her  woodland  simplicity,  to  my  simplified  eyes  at 
least.  She  had  not,  to  be  sure,  a  '  sweet  white  dress,'  with 


240  A    NEW    HOME, 

straw-colored  kid  gloves,  and  a  dog  tied  to  a  pink  ribbon, 
like  *  the  fair  Curranjel,'  but  she  wo/e  a  rational,  home-like 
calico — 'horrors!'  I  hear  my  lady  readers  exclaim — ay,  a 
calico,  neatly  fitted  to  her  beautiful  figure  ;  and  her  darkly- 
bright  eyes  beamed  not  less  archly  beneath  her  waving 

locks  than  they  had  done years  before.     You  did 

not  think  I  was  going  to  tell,  did  you  ? 

Two  hundred  and  forty  questions,  at  a  moderate  guess, 
and  about  half  as  many  answers,  passed  between  us,  while 
Mr.  Hastings — did  n't  I  say  his  name  was  Hastings  ? — was 
showing  Mr.  Clavers  his  place.  Cora  and  I  had  no  leisure 
for  statistics  or  economics  on  this  our  first  rencontre.  She 
rocked  the  basket-cradle  with  her  foot,  and  told  me  all 
about  her  two  little  daughters ;  and  I  had  a  good  deal  to 
say  of  the  same  sort ;  and  at  length,  when  superior  autho 
rity  said  we  could  not  stay  one  moment  longer,  we  cantered 
off,  with  promises  of  re- union,  which  have  since  been  amply 
redeemed  on  both  sides.  And  now  shall  I  tell,  all  in  due 
form,  what  I  have  gathered  from  Cora's  many  talks,  touch 
ing  a  wild  prank  of  hers  ?  She  said  I  might,  and  I  will, 
with  the  reader's  good  leave. 


WHO'LL    FOL  LOW?  241 


CHAPTER   XXXVIII. 

Love  sat  on  a  Lotus-leaf  afloat, 
And  saw  old  Time  in  his  loaded  boat; 
Slowly  he  cross'd  Life's  narrow  tide, 
While  Love  sat  clapping  his  wings  and  cried, 
Who  will  pass  Time  ? 

EVERARD  HASTINGS,  a  tall,  bright-haired,  elegant-looking 
boy  of  nineteen,  handsome  as  Antinous,  and  indolent  as  any 
body  on  record,  left  college  with  his  head  as  full  of 
romance  and  as  far  from  any  thing  like  plain,  practical, 
common-sense  views  of  life  and  its  wearisome  cares  and  its 
imperious  duties,  as  any  young  New  Yorker  of  his  stand 
ing  ;  and  he  very  soon  discovered  that  his  charming  cousin 
Cora  Mansfield  was  just  the  bewitching  little  beauty  for 
such  a  hero  to  fall  shockingly  in  love  with.  To  be  freed 
from  college  restraints  and  to  be  deeply  in  love,  were  both 
so  delightful,  that  Everard  '  argued  sair  '  to  persuade  his 
father  not  to  be  in  such  haste  to  immure  him  in  a  law-office. 
He  thought  his  health  rather  delicate — exertion  certainly 
did  not  agree  with  him.  He  passed  his  slender  fingers 
through  the  cherished  love-locks  which  had  been  much  his 
care  of  late ;  looked  in  the  glass  and  wished  he  was  of  age 
and  had  finished  his  studies  ;  and  then  went  and  sat  the 
evening  wTith  Cora.  And  though  law  did  not  get  on  very 
fast,  love  made  up  for  it  by  growing  wondrously. 

His  diary  in  those  days,  if  he  had  found  time  to  keep  a 
diary,  must  have  run  somewhat  on  this  wise : — 
21 


242  A    N  E  W    H  O  M  E  , 

'Monday  morning.  Rose  at  eight.  Got  to  the  office 
about  ten,  or  pretty  soon  after.  Mr.  J.  looked  a  little  dry. 

Went  with  Cora  at  twelve  to  see 's  pictures.  Took 

us  a  long  time.  Dined  at  uncle  Phil's— and  found  all  in 
bed  but  Pa  when  I  came  home. 

'  Tuesday.  Overslept.  Office  at  ten,  or  perhaps  a  little 
after.  Mr.  J.  asked  me  if  I  was  not  well.  Vexed  to  think 
how  I  colored  as  I  said  'not  very/  Cora  and  I  were 
engaged  to  make  a  bridal  call  with  Mrs.  L.  Carriage 
called  for  me  at  the  office.  Dined  at  uncle  Phil's  and  went 
to  the  theatre  with  aunt  Charlotte  and  the  girls.  Cora 
grows  prettier.  Henry  Tracy  says  she  is  handsomer  than 
the  great  beauty,  Miss ,  of  Boston. 

'  Wednesday.  All  dined  with  us,  and  company  in  the 
evening.  Did  not  get  to  the  office  at  all. 

'  Thursday.  Rose  early.  Walked  with  the  girls  on  the 
battery,  and  breakfasted  at  uncle  Phil's.  Felt  quite  ill. 
Rising  early  never  did  agree  with  me.  Obliged  to  lie  on 
the  sofa  and  have  my  forehead  bathed  with  Cologne  till  it 
was  too  late  to  go  to  the  office.  Dined  at  uncle  Phil's,  and 
rode  with  girls  afterwards,'  &c.  &c. 

And  what  were  uncle  Phil  and  aunt  Charlotte  thinking 
of  all  this  time  ?  Why,  that  Everard  and  Cora  were  but 
children ;  and  that  by-and-by,  when  the  fitting  time  should 
come,  a  marriage  would  be  just  the  very  thing  most  agreea- 
He  to  all  concerned. 

When  spring  came — delicious  tempting  days  of  warm 
sun  and  bright  skies — both  families  prepared  for  their  usua* 
summer  flight  to  their  rural  palaces  on  the  North  River, 
not  far  from  town ;  and  Everard  pleaded  so  hard  for  one 
single  summer,  or  part  of  a  summer,  that  his  father,  who 
was  too  indulgent  by  half,  gave  way  and  suffered  him  to 


W  HO' LL    FOLLOW?  243 

postpone  his  studies ;  hoping  of  course  that  Everard  would 
gain  studious  habits  by  sauntering  in  the  woods  with  his 
cousins.  'T  is  pity  parents  can  so  seldom  stop  at  the  juste 
milieu  between  weak  compliance  and  severe  requisition ;  but 
then  I  should  have  had  no  story  to  tell,  so  it  is  better  as 
it  is. 

*  How  fond  the  children  are  of  each  other !'  said  Mrs. 
Hastings  to  Mrs.  Mansfield. 

What  parent  ever  thought  that  a  child  had  arrived 
at  maturity  ? 

I  have  heard  of  an  octogenarian  who  declined 'staying 
two  days  with  a  relative  because  he  was  afraid  '  the  boys ' 
could  not  get  along  without  him ;  one  of  '  the  boys  '  a 
bachelor  of  fifty,  the  other  a  grandfather.  But  to  return. 

Wandering  one  afternoon  over  the  woody  hills  which 
make  so  charming  a  part  of  those  elegant  places  on  the 
Hudson,  Cora  and  Everard,  by  one  of  those  chances  Avhich 
will  occur,  spite  of  all  one  can  do,  were  separated  from 
their  companions. 

'Everard,'  said  the  fair  girl,  stopping  short  and  looking 
around  her  with  delight,  '  only  see !  it  seems  now  as  if  we 
were  in  a  lonely  wilderness  without  a  single  trace  of  man 
but  this  little  path.  Would  n't  it  be  charming  if  it  were 
really  so  ?  if  there  were  nobody  within,  0  !  ever  so  many 
miles,  but  just  ourselves '  she  stopped  and  blushed. 

'  Ah,  Cora !'  said  Everard,  passionately,  '  if  you  only 

loved  me  half  as  well  as '  but  he  had  not  time  to  finish, 

for  the  little  hand  which  had  lain  quietly  within  his  arm 
was  snatched  away,  leaving  the  glove  behind  it,  and  Cora, 
running  away  from  her  own  blushes,  was  at  the  river  side 
quick  as  lightning. 

Love  had  not  blinded    Everard's   eyes   when  he  called 


244  A    NEW    HOME, 

Cora  a  beauty.  She  was  a  beauty,  and  of  the  most 
bewitching  style  too;  with  eyes  of  all  sorts  of  colors,  just 
as  she  happened  to  feel ;  but  the  fringing  lashes  were 
always  silky  black,  and  the  eyes  seemed  so  too,  to  the 
unconcerned  spectator.  She  might  have  passed  for  one 
of  « Spam's  dark-glancing  daughters/  if  one  looked  at  her 
elastic  form,  and  her  tiny  hands  and  feet,  but  her  skin 
was  too  exquisitely  white  to  warrant  the  supposition,  and 
besides,  she  had  mind  enough  in  her  face  to  have  furnished 
forth  a  dozen  senoras. 

Imagine  such  a  being,  graceful  as  a  sylph,  and  withal, 

Ruby-lipp'd  and  tooth'd  with  pearl 

and  you  have  Cora  Mansfield  before  you,  as  she  stood  on 
the  beach,  every  charm  heightened  by  the  sudden  exertion, 
and  the  confusion  into  which  Everard's  last  speech  (of 
which  I  gave  only  an  inkling)  had  thrown  her. 

There  had  long  been  a  tacit  understanding  between  the 
young  lovers;  but,  after  all,  the  first  words  of  love  will, 
whatever  may  have  been  the  preparation,  inevitably  overset 
a  woman's  philosophy. 

Cora  was  almost  sixteen,,  reader,  and  thought  herself  a 
woman  at  least,  though  her  mother — but  that  's  quite 
another  thing. 

It  was  sunset  before  Everard  and  Cora  found  their  way 
back  to  the  house  ;  but  they  did  not  stop  on  the  lawn  as 
usual,  to  talk  about  the  western  sky.  Cora's  little  heart 
throbbed  audibly,  as  a  heroine's  ought ;  and  as  for  Everard 
he  walked  with  his  eyes  fixed  on  the  earth,  though  he 
thought  only  of  the  bright  being  beside  him.  Both  looked 
most  terribly  conscious,  but  nobody  thought  of  noticing 
them,  and  Mrs.  Mansfield,  whom  they  found  in  the  parlor, 


WHO'LL    FOLLOW?  245 

only  said,  '  Cora,  child,  you  are  very  imprudent  to  be 
running  about  after  sunset  without  your  bonnet.' 

Now  Cora  did  hate,  above  all  other  things,  to  be  called 
'  child,'  and  it  was  quite  a  comfort  to  her  that  evening  to 
reflect,  '  Mamma  would  not  be  always  calling  me  child, 
if  she  knew !' 

It  was  not  long  before  Mamma  knew  all  about  it,  for 
there  was  no  motive  for  concealment  except  the  extreme 
youth  of  the  parties.  Everard  said  three  years  would  soon 
pass  away,  which  is  very  true,  though  he  did  not  think  so. 

I  forgot,  when  I  was  describing  Cora,  to  say  she  was 
even  more  deeply  tinged  with  romance  than  Everard 
himself.  She  lived  entirely  in  an  ideal  world.  Her  mind 
was  her  kingdom  or  her  cottage — her  ball-room  or  her 
dungeon — as  the  imaginary  drama  shifted  the  unities. 
Everard's  reveries  had  in  them  nothing  denned.  There 
was  always  a  beautiful  creature,  just  like  Cora,  but  the 
inferior  parts  of  fancy's  sketch  were  usually  rather  dim. 
With  his  fairy  mistress  the  case  was  different.  The  first 

poem  her  Italian  master,  the  Marquis  ,  had  put  into  her 

hands,  had  been  the  Pastor  Fido  ;  and  the  '  Care  beate 
selve '  of  Amaryllis  had  been  ever  since  the  favorite  theme 
of  her  musings.  And  then  the  sweet  little  enchanting 
'  Isola  Disabitata '  of  Metastasio  proved, — just  as  young  ladies 
like  to  have  things  proved, — that  people,  nay,  women 
alone,  can  live  in  a  wilderness,  and  even  in  a  desert  island ; 
and  0,  what  a  pretty  variety  of  paradises  she  wove  out 
of  these  slight  materials !  She  was  always  herself  the 
happy  tenant  of  a  cottage ;  so  happy  in  herself  that  even 
Everard  did  not  always  find  a  place  in  the  dream.  She 
had  her  books,  her  needle-work,  and  her  music ;  a  harp  of 
course,  or  a  guitar  at  the  very  least ;  ever-smiling  skies  and 
21* 


246  A   NEW    HOME, 

ever-rippling  rivulets ;  the  distant  murmur  of  a  water-fall, 
or  perhaps  a  boat  upon  a  deep-shaded  lake ;  and  a  fair  hill 
side  with  some  picturesque  sheep  grazing  upon  it. 

'  No  sound  of  hammer  or  of  saw  was  there,' 

no  thought  of  dinner,  no  concern  about  'the  wash/  no 
setting  of  barrels  to  catch  rain-water — oh,  dear !  only  think 
of  coming  to  Michigan  to  realize  such  a  dream  as  that ! 


WHO'LL    FOLLOW?  247 


CHAPTER    XXXIX. 

Go  follow  the  breeze  that  flies  over  the  sea, 

Go  fasten  the  rainbow's  dyes; 
Go  whistle  the  bird  from  yonder  tree, 

Or  catch  on  the  wave  the  sparkles  that  rise; 
This  to  do  thou  shalt  easier  find, 
Than  to  know  the  thoughts  of  a  woman's  mind. 


WITH  a  head  full  of  such  fantastic  notions,  it  is  hardly 
surprising  that  the  distant  prospect  of  an  old-fashioned 
wedding — all  the  aunts  and  uncles  and  fifteenth  cousins 
duly  invited — a  great  evening  party,  and  then  a  stiff  sitting- 
up  for  company — had  not  many  charms  for  our  heroine, 
and  that  Everard,  almost  equally  romantic,  and  eperdument 
amoureux,  should  have  learned  to  think  with  his  pretty 
wilful  cousin  in  this  as  in  all  other  particulars. 

He  did  not  at  all  relish  Cora's  living  so  much  in  these 
home-made  worlds  of  hers.  He  sometimes  questioned  her 
pretty  closely  as  to  particulars,  and  I  regret  to  say,  was 
often  more  jealous  than  he  cared  to  own,  of  certain  cava 
liers  who  played  conspicuous  parts  in  Cora's  dramas.  She 
declared  they  all  meant  Everard,  but  he  thought  some  of 
them  but  poor  likenesses. 

He  found  her  one  day  crying  her  pretty  eyes  red,  over 
one  of  Barry  Cornwall's  Dramatic  Scenes,  sweet  and 
touching  enough  for  anybody  to  cry  over.  It  ran  thus : — 

'There  stiff  and  cold  the  dark-eyed  Guido  lay, 
His  pale  face  upward  to  the  careless  day, 
That  smiled  as  it  was  wont. 


248  A    NEW    HOME, 

And  he  was  found 

His  young  limbs  mangled  on  the  rocky  ground, 
And  'mid  the  weltering  weeds  and  shallows  cold 
His  dark  hair  floated,  as  the  phantom  told: 
And  like  the  very  dream,  his  glassy  eye 
Spoke  of  gone  mortality ! — ' 

And  he  took  it  quite  hard  of  her  to  weep  over  a  handsome 
boy,  who  was  not  a  bit  like  him.  Cora  declared  he  was, 
and  they  made  quite  a  pretty  quarrel  of  it. 

It  must  come  out  at  last — I  have  put  it  off  as  long  as  1 
decently  could,  and  I  am  sorry  to  be  obliged  to  tell  it — but 
this  silly  young  couple  in  their  dreamy  folly  concluded  that 
since  all  the  papas  and  mammas  were  quite  willing  they 
should  marry,  it  could  be  no  great  harm  if  they  took  the 
how  and  the  when  into  their  own  hands,  and  carved  out 
for  themselves  a  home  in  the  wilderness,  far  from  law- 
offices  and  evening  parties,  plum-cake  and  white  satin. 
Accordingly,  on  pretence  of  dining  with  an  aunt  in  town, 
the  imprudent  pair  were  irrevocably  joined  by  a  certain 
reverend  gentleman,  who  used  to  be  very  accommodating 
in  that  way,  and  the  very  next  evening  set  out  clan 
destinely  for  ,  some  hundreds  of  miles  west  of 

Albany. 

Cora  left,  all  in  due  form,  a  note  of  apology  on  her 
dressing-table ;  placed  whatever  money  and  valuables  she 
possessed  in  security  about  her  person, — I  believe  she  did 
not  take  any  particular  heroine  for  a  model  in  these 
arrangements,  but  all ; — and  then  prepared  to  leave  her 
father's  house. 

Unfortunately  nobody  was  watching.  There  was  no 
possible  excuse  for  jumping  out  of  the  window,  but  she 
waited  till  all  were  in  bed,  and  then  unlocked  a  door  with 
much  care,  and  let  herself  out.  She  felt  a  sort  of  pang 


WHO'LL    FOLLOW?  249 

as  she  looked  back  at  the  house,  but  the  flurry  of  her 
spirits  scarcely  allowed  her  to  be  as  sentimental  as  the 
occasion  demanded. 

Everard,  whose  purse  had  just  been  replenished  by  his 
father's  bountiful  half-yearly  allowance,  joined  her  before 
she  had  reached  the  high-road.  He  was  a  shade  less 
thoughtless  than  his  volatile  companion,  who  had  been  ever 
a  spoiled  child,  and  his  heart  felt  portentously  heavy  ere 
they  had  lost  sight  of  their  happy  homes. 

It  was  a  beautiful  moonlight  night,  somewhat  near  the 
middle  of  July,  and  a  slight  shower  in  the  afternoon  had 
rendered  the  walking  delightful.  Cora  was  enchanted  :  the 
hour,  the  scene,  the  excitement  of  her  romantic-ridden 
brain,  conspired  to  raise  her  spirits  to  an  extravagant  pitch, 
and  to  make  her  forget  all  that  ought  to  have  deterred  her 
from  the  mad  step  she  was  now  taking.  She  only  regretted 
that  the  whole  journey  could  not  be  performed  on  foot ; 
and  it  was  with  some  difficulty  that  Everard  convinced  her 
of  the  impracticability  of  this,  her  first  and  darling  scheme. 

It  was  to  have  been  what  my  friend  Mrs. calls  a 

'  predestinarian-tower.' 

To  be  indebted  to  wheels  and  boilers  for  transportation, 
detracted  terribly  from  the  romance  of  the  thing;  but 
she  was  comforted  by  the  thought  that  it  was  only  by 
travelling  as  rapidly  as  possible,  that  they  could  hope 
to  elude  the  search  which  she  doubted  not  would  be 
immediately  commenced,  by  the  astonished  friends  they 
had  left  behind. 

Cora  confessed  herself  a  little  weary  when  they  reached 
the  little  Dutch  tavern  where  they  were  to  find  the  carriage 
which  was  to  bear  them  to  a  landing  on  the  river.  By 
some  mistake  the  carriage  had  not  yet  arrived,  and  the  hour 


250  A    NEW    HOME, 

which  elapsed  before  it  came  was  one  of  feverish  anxiety  to 
both.  A  dreary,  unfurnished  room,  lighted  by  one  forlorn 
little  candle,  was  rather  too  much  for  Cora's  philosophy. 
She  began  to  feel  terribly  sleepy,  and,  if  the  truth  must  be 
told,  wished  herself  safely  in  bed  at  home. 

But  she  would  not  have  lisped  such  a  thing  for  the 
world ;  and  to  Everard's  repeated  inquiry,  '  My  dearest 
Cora,  what  has  become  of  all  your  charming  spirits  ?  Do 
you  repent  already  ?' — almost  hoping  she  would  say,  yes, — 
she  still  replied, 

*  No,  indeed !  Do  you  think  I  have  so  little  resolu 
tion  !' 

And  she  silenced  the  loud  whispers  of  her  better  feelings, 
aided  as  they  were  by  this  temporary  depression  of  spirits, 
by  the  consideration  that  it  was  now  too  late  to  recede ; 
since,  although  she  had  found  it  easy  to  quit  her  father's 
house  unnoticed,  to  re-enter  it  in  the  same  manner  would 
now  be  impossible,  and  to  return  in  the  morning  was  not  to 
be  thought  of. 

The  rapid  motion  of  the  carriage,  and  the  refreshing  air 
of  approaching  morning,  revived  her  flagging  energies; 
and  they  had  not  proceeded  many  miles  before  her  fancy 
had  drawn  for  her  one  of  its  brightest  pictures,  and  this 
soon  after  subsided  into  a  most  fantastically  charming 
dream.  In  short,  she  fell  asleep,  and  slept  till  day-break. 
At  sunrise  they  found  themselves  at  the  landing,  and,  in 
the  course  of  half  an  hour,  on  board  the  steamer. 

The  morning  was  express.  No  lovelier  sunshine  ever 
encouraged  a  naughty  girl  in  her  naughtiness.  A  cold  rain 
would  have  sent  her  back  probably,  wilted  and  humble 
enough,  but  this  enchanting  morning  was  but  too  propitious. 
Cora  felt  her  little  heart  dilate  with  pleasure  as  the  boat 


WHO'LL    FOLLOW?  251 

shot  through  the  foaming  waters,  and  the  bugles  awakened 
the  mountain  echoes.  She  kept  her  green  silk  veil  closely 
drawn,  until  she  had  ascertained  that  all  on  board  were 
strangers  to  her ;  and  Everard,  who  could  not  adopt  the 
same  means  of  masking  his  Apollo  front,  was  much  relieved 
at  making  the  same  discovery. 

A  few  hours  brought  them  to  Albany,  and  here  Everard 
would  gladly  have  remained  a  few  days ;  but  there  was 
now  an  anxious  restlessness  in  Cora's  heart  which  sought 
relief  in  rapid  motion  ;  and  she  entreated  him  to  proceed 
immediately.  So  he  disposed  of  his  watch — for  who  needs 
a  time-piece  in  the  woods,  where  there  is  nothing  to  do  but 
watch  the  shadows  all  day  ? — and,  with  much  reluctance, 
of  a  ring  of  Cora's  ;  a  rich  diamond,  a  splendid  birth-day 
gift  from  the  grandmother  who  had  done  Cora  the  favor  to 
spoil  her  by  every  possible  indulgence.  The  jeweller,  who, 
fortunately  for  the  headlong  pair,  proved  very  honest  as 
times  go,  agreed  to  receive  these  articles  only  in  pledge,  on 
being  allowed  what  he  called  a  moderate  interest  for  one 
year,  the  time  he  engaged  to  retain  them. 

To  our  wise  lovers  the  sum  now  in  their  possession 
seemed  inexhaustible.  All  difficulties  seemed  at  an  end, 
and  they  set  out  with  all  sails  filled  by  this  happy  raising 
of  the  wind.  'T  is,  after  all,  a  humiliating  truth,  that 

Lips,  though  blooming,  must  still  be  fed. 

To  wander  over  the  woody  hills  all  the  morning  with — 
the  poet  or  the  novelist  whom  the  reader  loves  best ;  to 
watch  the  sailing  clouds  till  the  sultry  noon  is  past,  then 
linger  by  the  shadowy  lake  till  its  bosom  begins  to  purple 
with  day's  dying  tints,  while  it  fills  the  soul  with  dreamy 
happiness,  only  makes  the  unsympathizing  body  prodigious 
ly  hungry  ;  and  then  to  go  home,  wondering  what  on  earth 


252  A    NEW    HOME, 

we  can  have  for  dinner,  strikes  me  as  a  specimen  of  pungent 
bathos.  But  to  return. 

Cora's  desire  to  perform  certain  parts  of  the  westward 
journey  on  foot,  Everard  himself  bearing  the  two  small 
valises  which  now  enveloped  all  their  earthly  havings; — 
'some  kinds  of  baseness  are  nobly  undergone;' — this  wish 
had  yielded  to  that  feverish  haste,  that  secret  desire  to  fly 
from  her  own  pursuing  thoughts,  to  which  I  have  before 
alluded.  So  they  travelled  like  common  people. 

At  Utica,  Everard  purchased  a  few  books ;  for  Cora  had 
not  been  able  to  crowd  into  her  travelling  basket  more  than 
two  mignon  volumes  of  her  darling  Metastasio ;  and  to  live 
in  a  wilderness  without  books,  was  not  to  be  thought  of. 
Robinson  Crusoe  would  have  been  .the  most  rational  pur 
chase,  but  I  dare  say  he  did  not  buy  that.  Perhaps  Atala, 

perhaps  Gertrude  of  Wyoming,  perhaps but  these  are 

only  conjectures.  For  my  own  part,  I  should  have  recom 
mended  Buchan's  Domestic  Medicine,  the  Frugal  House 
wife,  the  Whole  Duty  of  Man,  and  the  Almanac  for  18 — . 
But,  counselled  only  by  their  own  fantasies,  these  sober 
friends  were,  I  doubt,  omitted,  in  favor  of  some  novels  and 
poetry-books,  idle  gear  at  best. 

With  this  reinforcement  of  '  the  stuff  that  dreams  are 
made  of,'  they  proceeded  ;  and,  after  some  two  or  three 
days'  travel,  found  themselves  in  a  small  village,  in  the 
south-western  part  of  New  York.  Here  Cora  was  content 
to  rest  awhile ;  and  Everard  employed  the  time  in  sundry 
excursions  for  the  purpose  of  reconnoitring  the  face  of  the 
country  ;  wishing  to  ascertain  whether  it  was  rocky,  and 
glenny,  and  streamy  enough  to  suit  Cora,  whose  soul  dis 
dained  any  thing  like  a  level  or  a  clearing. 

Ere  long  he  found  a  spot,  so  wild  and  mountainous  and 


WHO'LL     FOLLOW?  253 

woody,  as  to  be  considered  entirely  impracticable  by  any 
common-sense  settler ;  so  that  it  seemed  just  the  very  place 
for  a  forest-home  for  a  pair  who  had  set  out  to  live  on 
other  people's  thoughts.  Cora  was  so  charmed  with 
Everard's  description  of  it,  and — whispered  be  it — so  tired 

of  living  at  the  Hotel,  that  she  would  not  hear  of 

going  first  to  look  and  judge  for  herself,  but  insisted  on 
removing  at  once,  and  finding  a  place  to  live  in  afterwards. 


22 


254  ANEWHOME, 


CHAPTER   XL. 

Love  conceives 

No  paradise  but  such  as  Eden  was, 
With  two  hearts  beating  in  it. 

WILLIS — BIANCA  VISCONTI. 

ON  the  confines  of  this  highland  solitude  stood  a  com 
fortable-looking  farm-house,  with  only  the  usual  comple 
ment  of  sheds  and  barns  ;  but,  on  approaching  near  enough 
to  peep  within  its  belt  of  maples  and  elms,  a  splendid  sign 
was  revealed  to  the  delighted  eye  of  the  weary  traveller, 
promising  'good  entertainment  for  man  and  beast.'  Thus 
invited,  Everard  and  Cora  sought  admission,  and  were 
received  with  a  very  civil  nod  from  the  portly  host,  who  sat 
smoking  his  pipe  by  the  window,  'thinking  of  nothing  at 
all ;'  at  least  so  said  his  face,  while  his  great  dog  lay  just 
outside,  ready  to  bark  at  customers. 

The  cognomen  of  this  worthy  transplanted  Yankee, — the 
landlord,  not  the  dog, — was,  as  the  sign  assured  the  world, 
Bildad  Gridley  ;  and  the  very  tall,  one-eyed  '  ottomy  '  who 
sat  knitting  by  the  other  window,  was  addressed  by  him  as 
'  Miss  Dart.'  Mr.  Gridley,  a  widower  in  the  decline  of  life, 
and  *  Miss  Dart,'  a  poor  widow,  who,  in  return  for  a  com 
fortable  home,  assisted  his  daughter  Arethusa  to  do  '  the 
chores.'  There  was  yet  another  member  of  the  family,  Mr. 
Gridley 's  son  Ahasuerus,  but  he  had  not  yet  appeared. 
Miss  Arethusa  was  a  strapping  damsel,  in  a  /  two- blues ' 
calico,  and  a  buff  gingham  cape,  with  a  towering  horn  comb 


W  H  O  r  L  L    F  O  L  L  O  W  ?  255 

stuck  on  the  very  pinnacle  of  her  head,  and  a  string  of  gold 
beads  encircling  her  ample  neck. 

The  arrival  of  our  city  travellers  at  this  secluded  public, 
produced  at  first  quite  a  sensation.  Few  passengers,  save 
the  weary  pedlar,  or  the  spruce  retailer  of  books,  clocks,  or 
nutmegs,  found  their  way  to  these  penetralia  of  Nature. 
Now  and  then,  indeed,  some  wandering  sportsman,  or  some 
college  student  picturesquing  during  his  fall  vacation,  or 
perhaps  a  party  of  surveyors,  rested  for  a  night  at  the 
Moon  and  Seven  Stars ;  but  usually,  although  those  much 
bedaubed  luminaries  had  given  place  to  '  an  exact  likeness,' 
as  said  Mr.  Gridley,  'of  Giner'l  Lay-Fyette,'  with  his 
name,  as  was  most  meet,  in  yellow  letters  below  the 
portrait,  the  house  was  as  silent  as  if  it  had  not  borne  the 
ambitious  title  of  an  Inn,  and  the  farming  business  went  on 
with  scarcely  an  occasional  interruption. 

But  now  the  aspect  of  things  was*  materially  changed. 
Everard  had  signified  his  desire  to  remain  in  so  beautiful  a 
spot  for  a  week  or  two  at  least,  provided  Mr.  Gridley  could 
board — himself  'and — and — this  lady,'  he  added,  for  he 
could  not  call  Cora  his  wife,  though  he  tried. 

The  landlord,  with  a  scrutinizing  glance  at  poor  Cora, 
said  he  rather  guessed  he  could  accommodate  him  for  a 
spell;  and  then  went  to  consult  the  other  powers.  Our 
'happy  pair,'  each  tormented  by  an  undefined  sense  of 
anxiety  and  conscious  wrong,  which  neither  was  willing  to 
acknowledge  to  the  other,  awaited  the  return  of  honest 
Bildad  with  a  trembletnent  du  coeur,  which  they  in  vain 
endeavored  to  overcome.  At  length  his  jolly  visage  re 
appeared,  and  they  were  much  relieved  to  hear  him  say  in 
a  more  decided  tone  than  before,  '  Well,  sir !  I  guess  we 
can  'commodate  ye.' 


256  A    NEW    HOME, 

And  here,  how  I  might  moralize  upon  the  humbling 
effects  of  being  naughty,  which  could  make  these  proud 
young  citizens,  who  had  felt  so  wondrously  well-satisfied 
with  their  own  dignity  and  consequence  only  a  week  before, 
now  await,  with  fearful  apprehension,  the  fiat  of  a  plain  old 
farmer,  who  after  all  was  only  to  board  and  lodge  them. 
The  old  gentleman  had  such  a  fatherly  look,  that  both 
Everard  and  Cora  thought  of  their  own  papas ;  and  now 
began  to  reflect  that  maybe  these  papas  might  not  after  all 
see  the  joke  in  its  true  light.  But  neither  of  them  said 
such  a  word,  and  so  I  shall  pass  the  occasion  in  silence. 

They  were  shown  to  a  small  white-washed  room  on  the 
second  floor,  possessing  one  window,  guiltless  of  the  paint 
brush,  now  supported  by  means  of  that  curious  notched 
fixture  called  a  button,  so  different  from  the  article  to 
which  the  title  of  right  belongs.  A  bed  adorned  with  a 
covering  on  which  the  taste  of  the  weaver  had  expatiated, 
in  the  production  of  innumerable  squares  and  oblongs  of 
blue  and  white  ;  a  very  diminutive  and  exceedingly  rickety 
table  stained  red ;  a  looking-glass  of  some  eight  inches 
breadth,  framed  in  a  strip  of  gorgeous  mahogany,  and 
showing  to  the  charmed  gazer  a  visage  curiously  elongated 
cross-wise,  with  two  nondescript  chairs,  and  an  old  hair  trunk, 
bearing  the  initials  '  B.  G./  described  in  brass  nails  on  its 
arched  top,  constituted  the  furniture  of  the  apartment. 

Cora  busied  herself  in  arranging  things  as  well  as  she 
could.  Mr.  Gridley  called  her  'quite  a  handy  young 
woman,  considering  she  had  n't  been  brought  up  to 
nothing !'  and  while  this  employment  lasted,  she  managed 
to  maintain  a  tolerable  degree  of  cheerfulness ;  but  when 
all  was  done,  and  she  paused  to  look  around  her,  such  a 
tide  of  feelings  rushed  upon  her,  that  her  pride  at  length 


WHO'LL    FOLLOW!  257 

gave  way,  and  sitting  down  on  the  old  trunk,  she  buried 
her  face  in  her  lap,  and  burst  into  a  passion  of  tears. 

Everard  tried  to  comfort  her  as  well  as  he  could,  but  his 
own  heart  was  overcharged ;  and  after  a  few  ineffectual 
efforts,  he  threw  himself  on  the  floor  at  her  side,  and  wept 
almost  as  heartily  as  she  did.  As  soon  as  his  feelings  were 
relieved  by  this  overflowing  of  nature,  he  felt  heartily 
ashamed  of  himself,  and  lifting  Cora  to  the  window,  insisted 
that  she  should  look  out  upon  the  glorious  prospect  which 
it  commanded.  She  struggled  to  regain  her  low  seat,  that 
she  might  indulge  to  the  uttermost  this  paroxysm  of  re 
morse  and  misgiving ;  but  he  pursued  his  advantage,  and 
held  her  before  the  window  till  the  fresh  breeze  had 
changed  the  current  of  her  sad  thoughts,  and  thrown  her 
rich  curls  into  a  most  becoming  confusion ;  and  then,  reach 
ing  the  eight-inch  mirror,  held  it  suddenly  before  her  still 
streaming  eyes.  And  now,  like  true  boy  and  girl,  they  were 
both  seized  with  uncontrollable  laughter,  and  sat  down  and 
enjoyed  it  to  the  uttermost. 

'  How  foolish  we  look,'  said  Cora  at  length.  '  0,  Eve 
rard  !  if  mamma — '  but  at  that  word  her  pretty  eyes  began 
to  fill  again,  and  Everard  declared  she  should  not  say 
another  word. 

'  Let  us  take  a  walk,'  said  he,  '  one  of  your  own  long 
rambling  walks.  You  know  we  have  yet  to  find  a  spot 
lovely  enough  for  you  to  live  in !'  And  the  volatile  girl 
was  all  gaiety  in  a  moment. 

They  were  on  their  return  after  a  very  long  ramble, 
when  they  came  to  a  dell  deep  enough  to  make  one  think 
of  listening  to  the  talkers  in  Captain  Symmes'  world ;  and 
this  Cora  declared  to  be  the  very  home  of  her  dreams. 

This  and  none  other  should  be  her  '  forest  sanctuary ;' — 
22*  • 


258  A    NEW    HOME, 

Qu.  What  was  she  flying  from  ? — here  should  the  cottage 
stand  under  whose  lowly  roof  was  to  be  realized  all  of  bliss 
that  poet  ever  painted. 

Mighty  shades, 

Weaving  their  gorgeous  tracery  overhead, 
With  the  light  melting  through  their  high  arcades, 
As  through  a  pillar'd  cloister's. 

0 !  it  was  too  delicious !  and  all  the  good  thoughts  took 
flight  again. 


WHO'LL    FOLLOW? 


CHAPTER    XLI. 

Gon.  Here  is  every  thing  advantageous  to  life. 
Ant.  True,  save  means  to  live. 

TEMPEST. 

THAT  evening  after  tea,  Everard  began  his  negotiations 
with  Mr.  Gridley  for  the  purchase  of  the  much-admired 
glen. 

'  Glen !'  said  honest  Bildad,  who  sat  as  usual,  pipe  in 
mouth,  by  the  front  window. 

Everard  explained. 

'Why,  Lord  bless  ye!  yes,  I  own  two  hundred  and 
seventy  odd  acres  jist  round  there ;  and  that  'ere  gulf  is 
part  on  't.  Ahasuerus  began  to  make  a  clearin  there,  but 
it 's  so  plaguily  lumber'd  up  with  stuns,  and  so  kind  o' 
slantin  besides,  that  we  thought  it  would  never  pay  for 
ploughin.  So  Hazzy  has  gone  to  work  up  north  here,  and 
gets  along  like  smoke.' 

'  Would  you  be  willing  to  sell  a  small  place  there  ?'  in 
quired  Everard,  who  felt  inexpressibly  sheepish  when  he 
set  about  buying  this  '  stunny  '  spot. 

Mr.  Gridley  stared  at  him  in  unfeigned  astonishment. 

After  a  moment's  pause,  he  answered,  after  the  manner 
of  his  nation,  by  asking, 

*  Why,  do  you  know  any  body  that  wants  to  buy  ?' 

'  I  have  some  thoughts  of  settling  here  myself,'  said  his 
guest. 


260  A    N  E  W    H  O  M  E  , 

Another  stare,  and  the  landlord  fell  to  smoking  with  all 
his  might,  looking  withal  full  of  meditation. 

At  length — '  You  settle  here  !'  he  said  ;  '  what  for,  in  all 
natur  ?' 

'  I  Ve  taken  a  fancy  to  the  place,'  said  Everard ;  '  and  if 
you  choose  to  sell,  I  may  perhaps  be  a  purchaser/ 

'  Well !'  said  the  landlord,  laying  his  pipe  on  the  window- 
sill,  '  if  this  aint  the  queerest — But  I  '11  tell  ye  what,  Mr. 

,  I  never  can  think  o'  your  name,  if  you  really  want 

the  place,  why,  I  '11 — '  but  here  he  stopped  again.  He 
fixed  his  eyes  on  Everard,  as  if  he  would  look  through  his 
mortal  coil. 

'  There  's  one  thing,'  proceeded  he  again,  '  may  I  jist  be 
so  sa'acy  as  to  ask  you — I  do  n't  know  as  you  'd  think  it  a 
very  civil  question ;  but  I  do  n't  know  as  we  can  get  on 
without  it.  Are  you  sure,'  speaking  very  deliberately — 
'are  you  sure  that  you  're  married  to  this  young  gal  ?' 

'  Married  !'  said  Everard,  his  fine  eyes  flashing  lightning, 
while  poor  Cora,  completely  humbled,  felt  ready  to  sink 
through  the  floor,  '  Married  !'  he  repeated,  in  high  indigna 
tion,  which  an  instant's  pause  served  to  calm.  'I  can 
assure  you — I  can  assure  you — ' 

And  he  was  flying  after  Cora,  who  had  slipped  out  of 
the  room,  but  the  good  man  called  him  back. 

'  No  'casion,  no  'casion !'  you  say  you  sartainly  are,  and 
that 's  enough  ;  but  ra'ly  you  and  your  wife  both  looked  so 
young,  that  we  've  been  plaguily  puzzled  what  to  make 
on  V 

Everard,  deeply  mortified,  reverted  as  speedily  as  possi 
ble  to  his  desired  purchase ;  and  after  a  few  observations  as 
to  the  unprofitableness  of  the  scheme,  Mr.  Gridley  con 
cluded,  with  an  air  of  kindness,  which  soothed  the  feelings 


WHO'LL    FOLLOW?  261 

of  his  young  auditor,  '  You  know  your  own  business  best,  I 
dare  say;  and  if  so  be  you  are  determined  upon  it,  you 
may  have  it,  and  make  use  of  it  as  long  as  you  like ;  and  I 
s'pose  you  won't  think  o'  puttin  up  much  of  a  house  upon 
sich  a  place  as  that !  when  you  are  tired  on  't  we  '11  settle 
the  matter  one  way  or  t'  other.' 

Everard  readily  agreed  to  this  proposition,  for  he  knew 
himself  the  avowed  heir  of  the  rich  bachelor  uncle  whose 
name  he  bore,  and  he  was  little  concerned  about  the  pecu 
niary  part  of  his  affairs. 

And  there  was  a  house  to  be  built  on  a  green  hill-side  in 
the  deep  woods ;  and  this  grande  opus  fully  absorbed  our 
friends  until  it  was  completed.  In  taking  possession  of  it 
and  in  arranging  the  simple  requisites  which  formed  its 
furniture,  Cora  found  herself  happier  than  she  had  been 
since  she  left  home.  It  must  be  confessed  that  every  day 
brought  its  inconveniences ;  one  can't  at  first  snuff  the 
candle  well  with  the  tongs.  Here  were  neither  papa's 
side-boards  nor  mamma's  dressing  tables ;  but  there  was 
the  charm  of  house -keeping,  and  every  young  wife  knows 
what  a  charm  that  is,  for  a  year  or  two  at  least ;  and  then 
pride  whispered,  that  whenever  papa  did  find  them  out,  he 
would  acknowledge  how  very  well  they  had  managed  to  be 
happy  in  their  own  way. 

After  all,  it  must  be  confessed,  that  the  fairy-footed  Cora 
nourished  in  some  unexplored  nook  of  her  warm  little,  heart, 
a  fund  of  something  which  she  dignified  by  the  names  of 
resolution,  firmness,  perseverance,  &c.,  but  which  ill-natured 
and  severe  people  might  perhaps  have  been  disposed  to 
call  obstinacy,  or  self-will.  But  she  was  a  spoiled  child, 
and  her  boy-husband  the  most  indulgent  of  human  beings, 
so  we  must  excuse  her  if  she  was  a  little  naughty  as  well 


262  A    N  E  W    H  O  M  E  , 

as  very  romantic.  The  world's  harshness  soon  cures  ro 
mance,  as  well  as  some  other  things  that  we  set  out  with ; 
but  Cora  had  as  yet  made  no  acquaintance  with  the  world, 
that  most  severe  of  all  teachers. 

But  no  word  yet  of  inquiries  from  home.  No  advertise 
ments,  no  rewards,  '  no  afflicted  parents.'  This  was  rather 
mortifying.  At  length  Everard  ventured  to  propose  writing 
to  his  uncle,  and  though  Cora  pretended  to  be  quite  indif 
ferent,  she  was  right  glad  to  have  an  excuse  for  opening  a 
communication  with  home.  But  no  answer  came.  The 
cold  winds  of  autumn  turned  the  maple  leaves  yellow,  then 
scarlet,  then  brown — and  no  letter !  The  whole  face  of  the 
earth  presented  to  the  appalled  eye  of  the  city-bred  beauty, 
but  one  expanse  of  mud — deep,  tenacious,  hopeless  mud. 
No  walks  either  by  day  or  evening ;  books  all  read  and  re 
read  ;  no  sewing,  for  small  change  of  dress  suffices  in  the 
woods  ;  no  company  but  Squire  Bildad  or  Mrs.  Dart, — the 
squire's  '  gal '  was  teaching  school  for  the  winter,  and  the 
interesting  Hazzy  thought  Everard  *  a  queer  stick  to  set  all 
day  in  the  house  a  readin,'  and  did  not  much  affect  his 
society. 

Deep  winter,  and  no  word  from  New  York. 

Everard  now  wrote  to  his  father,  the  most  indulgent  of 
fathers;  but  though  he  often  saw  the  name  of  the  well- 
known  firm  in  a  stray  newspaper,  no  notice  whatever  was 
taken  of  his  missives.  This  was  a  turn  of  affairs  for  which 
he  was  entirely  unprepared.  Cora  tossed  her  pretty  head, 
and  then  cried,  and  said  she  did  not  care,  and  cried  again. 
But  now  a  new  interest  arose.  The  prospect  of  becoming 
a  mother  awakened  at  once  the  most  intense  delight  and 
a  terror  amounting  almost  to  agony;  and  Cora  at  length 
wrote  to  her  mother. 


WHO'LL    FOLLOW?  263 

Spring  came  and  with  the  flowers  a  little  daughter ;  and 
Cora  found  in  the  one-eyed,  odd-looking  widow  the  kindest 
and  most  motherly  of  nurses,  while  Mr.  Gridley  and  his 
family  kindly  interested  in  their  inexperienced  neighbors, 
were  not  lacking  in  aid  of  any  sort.  So  Cora  made  out 
much  better  than  she  deserved. 

When  she  was  able  to  venture  out,  the  good  squire  came 
with  his  wagon  to  fetch  her  to  spend  the  day  by  way  of 
change ;  and  Cora  most  thankfully  accepted  this  and  the 
other  kindnesses  of  her  rustic  friends.  A  short  residence  in 
the  woods  modifies  most  surprisingly  one's  views  on  certain 
points. 

Some  travellers  emigrating  to  far  Michigan  had  been 
resting  at  Mr.  Gridley 's  when  Cora  spent  her  day  there, 
and  it  was  to  this  unlucky  encounter  that  we  must  ascribe 
the  sickening  of  Cora's  darling,  who  was  after  some  days 
attacked  with  an  alarming  eruption.  Mrs.  Dart  declared  it 
the  small-pox,  and  having  unfortunately  less  judgment  than 
kindness,  she  curtained  its  little  bed  from  every  breath  of 
air,  and  fed  it  with  herb-teas  and  other  rustic  stimulants, 
till  the  poor  little  thing  seemed  like  to  stifle ;  and  just  at 
this  juncture  Everard  was  taken  ill  with  the  same  symp 
toms. 

Cora  bore  up  wonderfully  for  a  few  days,  but  the  baby 
grew  worse,  and  Everard  no  better.  Medical  aid  was 
sought,  but  the  doctor  proved  quite  as  much  of  an  old 
woman  as  Mrs.  Dart. 

The  dear  baby's  strength  was  evidently  diminishing,  the 
spots  in  its  little  cheeks  assumed  a  livid  appearance  ;  Mrs. 
Dart's  pale  face  grew  paler,  and  Cora  awaited,  with  an 
agony  which  might  be  read  in  her  wild  and  vacant  eye,  the 
destruction  of  her  hopes.  The  recollection  of  her  own 


264  A    Nfi-W    HOME, 

undutiful  conduct  towards  .her  parents  was  at  her  heart, 
weighing  it  down  like  a  mill-stone.  Everard  who  might 
have  assisted  and  comforted  her  was  stretched  helpless,  and 
at  times  slightly  delirious. 

'  I  fear  the  baby  is  going,'  said  the  kind  widow  with 
trembling  lips. 

The  wretched  mother  cast  one  look  at  its  altered  counte 
nance,  and  with  a  wild  cry  sunk  senseless  on  the  floor.  Her 
punishment  was  fulfilled. 


WHO'LL    FOLLOW?  265 


CHAPTER     X  L  1 1 . 

On  the  breast 

That  rocked  her  childhood,  sinking  in  soft  rest  ;— 
Sweet  mother— gentlest  mother!  can  it  be? 

MRS.  HEMANS. 

Pros.— If  I  have  too  austerely  punished  you 

Your  compensation  makes  amends;  for  I 
Have  give  you  here  a  thread  of  mine  own  life- 
Here  afore  heaven 
I  ratify  this  my  rich  gift. 

TEMPEST. 

Hath  not  old  custom  made  this  life  more  sweet, 
Than  that  of  painted  pomp  ? 

As  YOU  LIKE  IT. 

SHE  became  conscious  of  resting  on  a  soft  bosom — her 
hands  were  gently  chafed,  and  a  whispering  voice  whose 
thrilling  sounds  aroused  her  very  soul,  recalled  her  to  a 
sense  of  her  situation.  She  looked  first  at  her  infant's  little 
bed.  It  was  empty. 

'  My  baby  !  my  baby  !'  she  shrieked  in  agony. 

Her  mother,  her  own  dear  mother,  laid  it  on  her  bosom 
without  a  word,  but  she  saw  that  it  breathed  in  a  soft  sleep, 
and  tears  relieved  her  bursting  heart. 

'  0,  mother,  mother,  can  you  forgive — *  was  all  that 
she  could  say,  and  it  was  enough.  Her  father  too  was 
there,  and  he  took  her  in  his  arms,  and  weeping  blest  her 
and  forgave  all. 

The  crisis  or  turn  of  the  disease,  had  been  so  severe  as 
23 


266  A    NEW    HOME, 

to  assume  the  aspect  of  approaching  dissolution,  and  from 
that  hour  the  precious  baby,  (the  wilderness  is  the  place 
to  love  children,)  began  to  amend,  and  the  young  papa 
with  it.  And  then  came  such  long  talks  about  the  past, 
the  present,  and  the  future  ;  such  minute  explanations  of 
all  feelings  and  plans  ;  Everard  and  Cora  seemed  to  live  a 
whole  year  extra  in  these  few  weeks  which  succeeded  the 
time  of  this  sore  trial.  And  Cora  was  a  new  creature,  a 
rational  being,  a  mother,  a  matron,  full  of  sorrow  for  the 
past  and  of  sage  plans  for  the  future. 

The  silent  disregard  of  the  letters  had  been  systematic. 
The  flying  pair  had  been  recognized  by  some  person  on 
their  journey  westward  ;  and  the  parents,  indulgent  as  they 
were,  felt  that  some  atonement  was  due  for  this  cruel  dis 
regard  of  their  feelings,  and  forgetfulness  of  the  common 
obligations.  When  months  passed  on  without  any  evidence 
of  repentance  they  felt  still  more  deeply  hurt,  as  well  as 
seriously  anxious ;  and  though  Everard's  letters  relieved  in 
some  measure  their  solitude  for  the  welfare  of  their  undu- 
tiful  children,  it  was  not  until  Cora  wrote  to  her  mother, 
that  the  visit  was  resolved  on  which  proved  so  opportune 
and  so  delightful. 

And  there  was  more  to  be  told.  Fortune  had  become 
weary  of  smiling  on  the  long-established  house  of  Hastings 
and  Mansfield,  and  heavy  losses  had  much  impaired  the 
worldly  means  of  these  worthy  people.  The  summer- 
palaces  on  the  Hudson  were  about  to  pass  into  other  hands, 
and  great  changes  were  to  be  made  in  many  particulars. 
And  Everard  must  get  his  own  living.  This  was  a  thing 
which  Cora  at  least  had  never  included  in  her  plans. 

After  much  consultation  it  was  conceded  on  all  hands, 
that  it  would  be  rather  awkward  returning  to  Mr.  J.'s 


WHO'LL    FOLLOW?  267 

office  after  this  little  excursion.  A  frolic  is  a  frolic  to  be 
sure,  but  people  don't  always  take  the  view  we  wish  them 
to  take  of  our  vagaries.  Mr.  Mansfield  proposed  his  Michi 
gan  lands. 

And  Everard,  and  his  subdued  and  humbled  but  happy 
Cora,  confessed  that  they  had  imbibed  a  taste  for  the 
wilderness,  an  unfashionable  liking  for  early  rising  and 
deshabille  ;  a  yearning,  common  to  those  who  have  lived 
in  the  free  woods, 

To  forsake 
Earth's  troubled  waters  for  a  purer  spring. 

Visionary  still !  says  the  reader.  Perhaps  so ;  but  to 
Michigan  they  came,  and  with  a  fine  large  fertile  tract, 
managed  by  a  practical  farmer  and  his  family,  they  find  it 
possible  to  exist,  and  are,  I  had  almost  said,  the  happiest 
people  of  my  acquaintance. 


268  A   NEW    HOME, 


CHAPTER   XLIII. 

On  ne  doit  pas  juger  du  merite  d'un  homme  par  ses  grandes  qualites,  mais 
par  1'usage  qu'il  en  salt  faire. 

ROCHEFOOCAULT. 

Des  mots  longs  d'une  toise, 
De  grands  mots  qui  tiendroint  d'ici  jusqu'  a  Pontoise. 

RACINE— LES  PLAIDEURS. 

But  what  he  chiefly  valued  himself  on,  was  his  knowledge  of  metaphysics, 
in  which,  having  once  upon  a  time  ventured  too  deeply,  he  came  well  nigh 
being  smothered  in  a  slough  of  unintelligible  learning. 

IRVING — KNICKERBOCKER. 

MR.  SIMEON  JENKINS  entered  at  an  early  stage  of  his 
career  upon  the  arena  of  public  life,  having  been  employed 
by  his  honored  mother  to  dispose  of  a  basket  full  of  hard 
boiled  eggs,  on  election  day,  before  he  was  eight  years  old. 
He  often  dwells  with  much  unction  upon  this  his  debut ; 
and  declares  that  even  at  that  dawning  period  he  had  cut 
his  eye-teeth. 

*  There  was  n't  a  feller  there/  Mr.  Jenkins  often  says,  'that 
could  find  out  which  side  I  was  on,  for  all  they  tried  hard 
enough.  They  thought  I  was  soft,  but  I  let  'em  know  I 
was  as  much  baked  as  any  on  'em.  «  Be  you  a  dimocrat  ?' 
says  one.  Buy  some  eggs  and  I  '11  tell  ye,  says  I ;  and  by 
the  time  he  'd  bought  his  eggs,  I  could  tell  well  enough 
which  side  he  belonged  to,  and  I  'd  hand  him  out  a  ticket 
according,  for  I  had  blue  ones  in  one  end  o'  my  basket,  and 
white  ones  in  the  other,  and  when  night  come,  and  I  got 
off  the  stump  to  go  home,  I  had  eighteen  shillin  and  four- 
pence  in  my  pocket.' 


WHO'LL    FOLLOW?  269 

From  this  auspicious  commencement  may  be  dated  Mr. 
Jenkins's  glowing  desire  to  serve  the  public.  Each  succes 
sive  election-day  saw  him  at  his  post.  From  eggs  he 
advanced  to  pies,  from  pies  to  almanacs,  whiskey,  powder 
and  shot,  foot-balls,  playing-cards,  and  at  length,  for 
ambition  ever  '  did  grow  with  what  it  fed  on,'  he  brought 
into  the  field  a  large  turkey,  which  was  tied  to  a  post  and 
stoned  to  death  at  twenty-five  cents  a  throw.  By  this 
time  the  still  youthful  aspirant  had  become  quite  the  man 
of  the  world ;  could  smoke  twenty-four  segars  per  diem,  if 
any  body  else  would  pay  for  them;  play  cards  in  old 
Hurler's  shop  from  noon  till  day-break,  and  rise  winner; 
and  all  this  with  suitable  trimmings  of  gin  and  hard  words. 
But  he  never  lost  sight  of  the  main-chance.  He  had  made 
up  his  mind  to  serve  his  country,  and  he  was  all  this  time 
convincing  his  fellow-citizens  of  the  disinterested  purity  of 
his  sentiments. 

'  Patriotism !'  he  would  say,  '  patriotism  is  the  thing ! 
any  man  that 's  too  proud  to  serve  his  country  aint  fit  to 
live.  Some  thinks  so  much  o'  themselves,  that  if  they 
can  't  have  jist  what  they  think  they  're  fit  for,  they  won't 
take  nothin;  but  for  my  part,  /  call  myself  an  American 
citizen ;  and  any  office  that  's  in  the  gift  o'  the  people 
will  suit  me.  I  'm  up  to  any  thing.  And  as  there  aint 
no  other  man  about  here, — no  suitable  man,  I  mean, — 
that 's  got  a  horse,  why  I  'd  be  willing  to  be  constable, 
if  the  people  's  a  mind  to,  though  it  would  be  a  dead  loss 
to  me  in  my  business  to  be  sure  ;  but  I  could  do  any  thing 
for  my  country.  Hurra  for  patriotism !  them  's  my  sen 
timents.' 

It  can  scarcely  be  doubted  that  Mr.  Jenkins  became  a 
very  popular  citizen,  or  that  he  usually  played  a  conspicu- 
23* 


270  A    NEW    HOME, 

ous  part  at  the  polls.  Offices  began  to  fall  to  his  share, 
and  though  they  were  generally  such  as  brought  more 
honor  than  profit,  office  is  office,  and  Mr.  Jenkins  did  not 
grumble.  Things  were  going  on  admirably. 

The  spoils  of  office  glitter  in  his  eyes, 
He  climbs,  he  pants,  he  grasps  them — 

or  thought  he  was  just  going  to  grasp  them,  when,  presto ! 
he  found  himself  in  the  minority  ;  the  wheel  of  fortune 
turned,  and  Mr.  Jenkins  and  his  party  were  left  undermost. 
Here  was  a  dilemma!  His  zeal  in  the  public  service  was 
ardent  as  ever,  but  how  could  he  get  a  chance  to  show  it 
unless  his  party  was  in  power  ?  His  resolution  was  soon 
taken.  He  called  his  friends  together,  mounted  a  stump 
which  had  fortunately  been  left  standing  not  far  from  the 
door  of  his  shop,  and  then  and  there  gave  '  reasons  for  my 
ratting'  in  terms  sublime  enough  for  any  meridian. 

'My  friends  and  feller-citizens,'  said  this  self-sacrificing 
patriot,  '  I  find  myself  conglomerated  in  such  a  way,  that 
my  feelins  suffers  severely.  I  'm  sitivated  in  a  peculiar 
sitivation.  0'  one  side,  I  see  my  dear  friends,  pussonal 
friends — friends,  that  's  stuck  to  me  like  wax,  through 
thick  and  thin, — never  shinny  in  off  and  on,  but  up  to  the 
scratch,  and  no  mistake.  O'  t'  other  side  I  behold  my 
country,  my  bleedin  country,  the  land  that  fetch'd  me 
into  this  world  o'  trouble.  Now,  since  things  be  as  they 
be,  and  can  't  be  no  otherways  as  I  see,  I  feel  kind  o' 
screwed  into  an  auger-hole  to  know  what  to  do.  If  I  hunt 
over  the  history  of  the  universal  world  from  the  creation 
of  man  to  the  present  day,  I  see  that  men  has  always  had 
difficulties ;  and  that  some  has  took  one  way  to  get  shut 
of  'em,  and  some  another.  My  candid  and  unrefragable 
opinion  is,  that  rather  than  remain  useless,  buckled  down 


WHO'LL     FOLLOW?  271 

to  the  shop,  and  indulging  in  selfishness,  it  is  my  solemn 
dooty  to  change  my  ticket.  It  is  severe,  my  friends,  but 
dooty  is  dooty.  And  now,  if  any  man  calls  me  a  turn 
coat,'  continued  the  orator,  gently  spitting  in  his  hands, 
rubbing  them  together,  and  rolling  his  eyes  round  the 
assembly,  '  all  I  say  is,  let  him  say  it  so  that  I  can 
hear  him.' 

The  last  argument  was  irresistible,  if  even  the  others 
might  have  brooked  discussion,  for  Mr.  Jenkins  stands  six 
feet  two  in  his  stockings,  when  he  wears  any,  and  gesticu 
lates  with  a  pair  of  arms  as  long  and  muscular  as  Rob 
Roy's.  So,  though  the  audience  did  not  cheer  him,  they 
contented  themselves  with  dropping  off  one  by  one,  without 
calling  in  question  the  patriotism  of  the  rising  statesman. 

The  very  next  election  saw  Mr.  Jenkins  justice  of  the 
peace,  and  it  was  in  this  honorable  capacity  that  I  have 
made  most  of  my  acquaintance  with  him,  though  we  began 
with  threatenings  of  a  storm.  He  called  to  take  the 
acknowledgment  of  a  deed,  and  I,  anxious  for  my  country's 
honor,  for  I  too  am  something  of  a  patriot  in  my  own  way, 
took  the  liberty  of  pointing  out  to  his  notice  a  trifling  slip 
of  the  pen  ;  videlicet,  '  Justas  of  Piece,'  which  manner  of 
writing  those  words  I  informed  him  had  gone  out  of 
fashion. 

He  reddened,  looked  at  me  very  sharp  for  a  moment, 
and  then  said  he  thanked  me :  but  subjoined, 

'  Book-learning  is  a  good  thing  enough  where  there 
aint  too  much  of  it.  For  my  part,  I  Ve  seen  a  good 
many  that  know'd  books  that  did  n't  know  much  else. 
The  proper  cultivation  and  edication  of  the  human  intellect 
has  been  the  comprehensive  study  of  the  human  under 
standing  from  the  original  creation  of  the  universal  world 


272  A    NEW    HOME, 

to  the  present  day,  and  there  has  been  a  good  many  ways 
tried  besides  book-learning.  Not  but  what  that  's  very 
well  in  its  place.' 

And  the  justice  took  his  leave  with  somewhat  of  a 
swelling  air.  But  we  are  excellent  friends,  notwithstand 
ing  this  hard  rub ;  and  Mr.  Jenkins  favors  me  now  and 
then  with  half  an  hour's  conversation,  when  he  has  had 
leisure  to  read  up  for  the  occasion  in  an  odd  volume  of 
the  Cyclopedia,  which  holds  an  honored  place  in  a  corner 
of  his  shop.  He  ought  in  fairness,  to  give  me  previous 
notice,  that  I  might  study  the  dictionary  a  little,  for  the 
hard  words  with  which  he  arms  himself  for  these  'keen 
encounters,'  often  push  me  to  the  very  limits  of  my  English. 

I  ought  to  add,  that  Mr.  Jenkins  has  long  since  left  off 
gambling,  drinking,  and  all  other  vices  of  that  class,  except 
smoking ;  in  this  point  he  professes  to  be  incorrigible.  But 
as  his  wife,  who  is  one  of  the  nicest  women  in  the  world, 
and  manages  him  admirably,  pretends  to  like  the  smell 
of  tobacco,  and  takes  care  never  to  look  at  him  when  he 
disfigures  her  well-scoured  floor,  I  am  not  without  hopes 
of  his  thorough  reformation. 


WHO'LL    FOLLOW?  273 


CHAPTER    XLIV. 

Dandin.    Ta,  ta,  ta,  ta.    Voila  bien  instruire  une  affaire! 
A-t-on  jamais  plaid6  d'une  telle  m£thode? 
Mais  qu'en  dit  l:assembl£e  ? 
***** 
Ma  foi!  je  n'  y  concois  plus  rien, 
De  monde,  de  chaos,  j'ai  la  t£te  troublee, 
He !    concluez. 

RACINE — LES  PLAIDEURS. 

IT  was  'an  honor  that  I  dreamed  not  of,'  to  be  called 
before  this  same  Squire  Jenkins  in  his  dignified  capacity 
of  '  Justas.'  I  had  not  even  heard  a  murmur  of  the 
coming  storm,  when  I  was  served  with  a  subpoena,  and 
learned  at  the  same  time  the  astounding  fact,  that  at  least 
half  the  Montacute  Female  Beneficent  Society  were  about 
to  receive  a  shilling's  worth  of  law  on  the  same  occasion. 
A  justice  court! 

My  flesh  d;.d  creep,  and  each  particular  hair 
Did  stand  on  end— 

but  there  was  no  remedy. 

The  court  was  to  be  held  at  the  squire's,  and  as  Mrs. 
Jenkins  was  a  particular  friend  of  mine,  I  went  early, 
intending  to  make  her  a  call  before  the  awful  hour  should 
approach,  and  hoping  that  in  the  interval  I  might  be  able 
to  learn  something  of  the  case  in  which  I  was  expected 
to  play  the  important  part  of  witness. 

But  good  Mrs.  Jenkins,  who  was  in  her  Sunday  gown 
and  looked  very  solemn,  considered  herself  bound  to  main 
tain  an  official  mysteriousness  of  deportment,  and  she 


274  ANEW    HOME, 

therefore  declined  entering  upon  the  subject  which  was  so 
soon  to  come  under  the  cognizance  of  'the  good  people 
of  this  State.'  All  she  would  be  persuaded  to  say  was, 
that  it  was  a  slander  suit,  and  that  she  believed  '  women 
folks  '  were  at  the  bottom  of  it. 

But  ere  long  the  more  prominent  characters  of  the 
drama  began  to  drop  in.  Mrs.  Flyter  and  her  '  old  man,' 
and  two  babies  were  among  the  first,  and  the  lady  looked 
so  prodigiously  sulky,  that  I  knew  she  was  concerned  in 
the  fray  at  least.  Then  entered  Squire  Jenkins  himself, 
clean  shaved  for  once,  and  arrayed  in  his  meetin  coat.  He 
asked  his  wife  where  the  pen  and  ink  was,  and  said  he 
should  want  some  paper  to  write  down  the  '  dispositions.' 

And  the  next  comer  was  the  plaintiff,  the  Schneider 
of  our  village,  no  Robin  Starveling  he,  but  a  magnificent 
Hector-looking  fellow,  tall  enough  to  .have  commanded 
Frederick  of  Prussia's  crack  regiment ;  and  so  elegantly 
made,  that  one  finds  it  hard  to  believe  his  legs  have  ever 
been  crossed  on  a  shop-board.  The  beetle-brows  of  this 
stitching  hero  were  puckered  like  the  seams  of  his  newest 
'prentice,  and  he  cast  magnanimous  glances  round  the 
assembly,  as  who  should  say — 

Come  one,  come  all!    this  rock  shall  fly 
From  its  firm  base  as  soon  I! 

Though  the  rock  was  but  slenderly  represented  by  Mrs. 
Jenkins's  bureau,  against  which  he  leaned. 

The  world  now  began  to  flock  in.  The  chairs  were  soon 
filled,  and  then  the  outer  edges  of  the  two  beds.  Three 
young  pickles  occupied  the  summit  of  the  bureau,  to  the 
imminent  jeopardy  of  the  mirrored  clock  which  shone 
above  it.  Boards  were  laid  to  eke  out  the  chairs,  and 
when  the  room  was  packed  so  that  not  a  chink  remained, 


WHO'LL    FOLLOW?  275 

a  sensation  was  created  by  the  appearance  of  Mrs.  Nippers 
and  Miss  Clinch.  Much  turning  out  and  tumbling  over 
was  now  to  be  done,  although  those  active  ladies  appeared 
less  than  usually  desirous  of  attracting  attention. 

All  was  at  length  ready,  and  the  squire  opened  the 
court  by  blowing  his  nose  without  calling  upon  his  pocket 
handkerchief. 

What  was  my  surprise  when  I  learned  that  our  '  most 
magnanimous  mouse,'  Mr.  Shafton,  the  tailor,  had  been 
set  down  a  thief;  and  that  Mr.  Flyter  had  been  called 
on,  by  the  majesty  of  law,  to  answer  for  the  calumny; 
not  that  he  had  ever  thought  of  bringing  such  a  charge 
against  his  neighbor,  for  he  was  a  silent  man,  who  always 
had  his  mouth  too  full  of  tobacco  to  utter  slander,  or 
anything  else ;  but  that  his  lady,  on  a  certain  occasion 
where  women  had  convened  in  aid  of  one  of  the  afflicted 
sisterhood,  had,  most  '  imprudently,'  as  she  said  herself, 
given  vent  to  certain  angry  feelings  towards  Mr.  Shafton, 
*  in  manner  as  aforesaid.'  To  think  of  bringing  a  woman 
into  trouble  for  what  she  happened  to  say  after  tea !  I 
began  to  consider  Mr.  Shafton  as  no  more  than  the  ninth 
part  of  a  man  after  all. 

Things  went  on  very  quietly  for  a  while.  The  '  dispo 
sitions  '  occupied  a  good  deal  of  time,  and  a  vast  amount 
of  paper ;  the  scribe  finding  the  pen  less  germain  to  his 
fingers  than  the  plough,  and  making  his  lines  bear  no  small 
resemblance  to  the  furrows  made  by  a  'breaking-up  team.' 
But  when  the  ladies  began  to  figure  on  the  stage,  the 
aspect  of  affairs  was  altered.  Each  wished  to  tell  '  the 
truth,  the  whole  truth,  and  nothing  but  the  truth  ;'  and 
to  ask  one  question,  elicited  never  less  than  one  dozen 
answers ;  the  said  answers  covering  a  much  larger  ground 


276  A    NEW    HOME, 

than  the  suit  itself,  and  bring  forward  the  private  affairs 
and  opinions  of  half  the  village.  In  vain  did  Mr.  Jenkins 
roar  '  silence !'  his  injuctions  only  made  the  ladies  angry, 
and  of  course  gave  their  tongues  a  fresh  impetus. 

'  Cabbage  !  yes,  you  said  he  took  a  quarter  of  a  yard  of 
satinett,  and  that  that  was  as  bad  as  stealing  !'  '  Yes  !  and 
then  Miss  Flyter  said  he  did  steal  cloth,  and  thread  and 
buttons  too  !'  '  Well,  Miss  Nippers  told  me  so,  and  she 
said  she  see  a  chair-cushion  at  Miss  Shafton's,  that  was 
made  all  out  of  great  pieces  of  fulled  cloth  !'  '  Who  ?  I  ? 
0,  mercy !  I  do  n't  believe  I  ever  said  such  a  word  !'  '  0, 
you  did,  you  did  !  I  'm  willin  to  take  my  afferdavy  of  it !' 
'  Silence !'  vociferated  Squire  Jenkins.  '  Ladies,'  began 
Mr.  Phlatt,  the  plaintiff's  counsel,  'if  you  would  wait  a 
minute ' — 

In  vain — alas!    in  vain,  ye  gallant  few  I 

In  vain  do  you  essay  to  control 

The  force  of  female  lungs, 
Sighs,  sobs  and  passions,  and  the  war  of  tongues. 

And  Mr.  Phlatt  sat  down  in  despair,  looked  out  of  the 
window,  and  drummed  on  the  table  with  his  fingers,  as 
if  to  pass  away  the  time  till  he  could  be  heard. . 

Squire  Jenkins,  who  was  but  newly  dignified,  and  did 
not  like  to  proceed  to  extremities,  now  adjourned  the  court 
for  one  hour,  a  recess  much  needed  by  the  exhausted 
state  of  some  of  the  witnesses.  During  this  interval, 
and  while  the  wordy  war  was  waxing  stronger  and 
stronger,  Mr.  Flyter  and  Mr.  Shafton  very  wisely  withdrew, 
and  in  less  than  five  minutes  returned,  and  informed  the 
company  that  they  had  '  settled  it.'  Mr.  Flyter  was  to  pay 
Mr.  Shafton  three  dollars  and  fifty  cents  worth  of  lumber 
for  big  character,  with  costs  of  suit ;  and  Mrs.  Flyter  was 


WHO'LL    FOLLOW?  277 

to  unsay  all  she  had  said,  and  confess  that  three  yards 
of  satinett  for  a  pair  of  pantaloons,  would  leave  the  tailor 
no  more  than  his  regular  cabbage. 

So  here  was  four  hours'  time  of  something  near  thirty 
people  spent  to  good  purpose  in  chasing  a  will-o'-the-wisp. 
And  Montacute  sees  equally  important  suits  at  law  every 
few  weeks ;  expensive  enough,  if  '  settled '  midway  as 
they  often  are,  between  the  parties  themselves ;  still  more 
so  if  left  to  pursue  the  regular  course,  and  be  decided  by 
the  justice. 

The  intelligence  of  the  'settlement'  was  received  with 
various  aspects  by  the  persons  concerned.  The  counsel 
on  both  sides  were  of  course  disappointed,  for  they  had 
calculated  largely  upon  the  spunk  of  the  splendid-looking 
son  of  the  shears,  and  had  counted  on  a  jury -trial  at  least, 
if  not  an  appeal.  Mrs.  Flyter  was  evidently  much  relieved 
to  find  that  she  had  come  off  so  easily  ;  and  sundry  other 
ladies,  who  had  been  trembling  under  the  consciousness 
of  conversational  'sins  un whipped  of  justice,'  shawled 
and  india-rubbered  with  more  than  usual  alacrity,  and 
I  doubt  not  made  vows  sincere,  whether  well-kept  or  not, 
to  let  their  neighbors'  business  alone  for  some  time. 

Mr.  Jenkins  was  evidently  disappointed  at  the  tame 
result  of  so  much  glorious  preparation.  He  had  made 
up  his  own  mind  on  the  first  statement  of  the  case,  and  had 
prepared  his  decision,  with  the  addition  of  a  concise  view 
of  the  universe  from  chaos  to  the  present  day.  But  that 
will  do  for  the  next  time,  and  he  will  not  be  obliged 
to  reserve  it  long.  Bartholine  Saddletree  himself  would 
weary  of  the  '  never-ending,  still-beginning '  law-pleas  of 
Montacute.  Bad  fences,  missing  dogs,  unruly  cattle,  pigs' 
ears,  and  women's  tongues,  are  among  the  most  prolific 
•24 


278  A    NEW    HOME, 

sources  of  litigation ;  to  say  nothing  of  the  satisfactory 
amount  of  business  which  is  created  by  the  collection 
of  debts,  a  matter  of  '  glorious  uncertainty  '  in  Michigan. 
These  suits  are  so  frequent,  that  they  pass  as  part  and 
parcel  of  the  regular  course  of  things ;  and  you  would 
find  it  impossible  to  persuade  a  thorough-bred  Wolverine, 
that  there  was  anything  unfriendly  in  suing  his  next-door 
neighbor  for  a  debt  of  however  trifling  amount. 

Actions  for  trespass  and  for  slander  are  rather  more 
enjoyed,  as  being  somewhat  less  frequent ;  but  anything 
like  a  trial  will  always  be  enough  to  keep  half  a  dozen 
unconcerned  people  idle  for  a  day  or  more. 

Mr.  Shafton's  spirited  defence  of  his  fair  fame  will,  I  see 
plainly,  prove  a  lasting  benefit  to  the  talking  sex  of  Monta- 
cute.  It  is  perfectly  incredible  how  much  was  done  and 
how  little  said  at  the  last  week's  meeting  of  the  Female 
Beneficent  Society.  Mrs.  Nippers  to  be  sure  had  the  ague, 
and  did  her  chattering  at  home,  and  Miss  Clinch  staid  to 
take  care  of  her,  as  in  duty  bound.  But  I  think  that  alone 
would  not  account  for  the  difference.  We  shall  see  next 
week. 


WHO'LL    FOLLOW7  2*79 


CHAPTER   XLV. 

See !  sae  close  as  they're  written  down  to  the  very  seal !  and  a'  to  save 
p  ostage ! 

ANTIQUARY. 

Ant. — We  sent  our  schoolmaster — 
Is  he  come  back? 

ANTONY  AND  CLEOPATRA. 

I  HAVE  departed  from  all  rule  and  precedent  in  these 
wandering  sketches  of  mine.  I  believe  I  set  out,  a  great 
many  pages  ago,  to  tell  of  the  interesting  changes,  the  pro 
gressive  improvements  in  this  model  of  a  village  of  ours. 
My  intention,  as  far  as  I  had  any,  was  to  convey  to  the 
patient  reader  some  general  idea  of  our  way  of  life  in  these 
remote  arid  forgotten  corners  of  creation.  But  I  think  I 
have  discovered  that  the  bent  of  my  genius  is  altogether 
towards  digression.  Association  leads  me  like  a  will-o'-the- 
wisp.  I  can  no  more  resist  following  a  new  train  of 
thought,  than  a  coquette  the  encouraging  of  a  new  lover  at 
the  expense  of  all  the  old  ones,  though  often  equally  con 
scious  that  the  old  are  most  valuable.  This  attempt  to 
write  one  long  coherent  letter  about  Montacute,  has  at  least 
been  useful  in  convincing  me  that  History  is  not  my  forte. 
I  give  up  the  attempt  in  despair,  and  lower  my  ambition  to 
the  collection  of  scattered  materials  for  the  use  of  the  future 
compiler  of  Montacutian  annals. 

Yet  it  seems  strange,  even  to  my  desultory  self,  how  I 
could  have  passed  in  silence  the  establishment  of  a  weekly 


280  ANEWHOME, 

mail,  that  sweetener  of  our  long  delicious  winter  evenings — 
that  rich  atonement  for  all  that  we  lack  of  fresh  scandal 
and  new  news.  Since  this  treasure  was  ours,  I  have  learned 
to  pity  most  sincerely  those  who  get  their  letters  and  papers 
at  all  sorts  of  unexpected  and  irregular  times ;  a  shower  of 
scattering  fire,  feeble  and  ineffectual — a  dropping  in  at  all 
hours,  seasonable  and  unseasonable,  like  some  classes  of 
visiters ;  coming  often  when  one's  mood  is  anything  but 
congenial ;  and'  sure  to  stay  away  when  one  longs  for  com 
pany — gay  ones  intruding  when  we  are  determined  to  be 
blue  and  miserable,  and  sad  ones  casting  their  long  shadows 
on  our  few  sunny  hours. 

But  a  weekly  mail !  a  budget  that  one  waits  and  gets 
ready  for ;  a  regularly-recurring  delight,  an  unfailing 
pleasure,  (how  few  such  have  we !)  hours,  nay  days,  of 
delicious  anticipation — sure  harvest  of  past  care  and  toil,  an 
inundation  of  happiness  !  Let  no  one  think  he  has  exhaust 
ed  all  the  sources  of  enjoyment  till  he  has  lived  in  the 
back- woods  and  learned  to  expect  a  weekly  mail  with  his 
lap-full  of  letters  and  its  tumulus  of  papers ;  a  feast 
enjoyed  by  anticipation  for  a  whole  week  previous,  and 
affording  ample  materials  for  resumees  for  that  which 
succeeds. 

This  pleasure  has  become  so  sacred  in  my  eyes,  that 
nothing  vexes  me  so  intolerably  as  seeing  our  lanky  mail- 
bags  dangling  over  the  bony  sides  of  Major  Bean's  lame 
Canadian,  and  bestridden  and  over-shadowed  by  the  portly 
form  of  the  one-eyed  Major  himself,  trotting  or  rather  hob 
bling  down  Main-street  on  some  intermediate  and  unpre 
meditated  day.  Men  of  business  are  so  disagreeable  and 
inconsiderate  !  To  think  of  any  body's  sending  fourteen 
interminable  miles  over  bush  and  bog  to  B***,  up  hill  both 


WHO'LL    FOLLOW?  2gl 

ways,  as  every  one  knows,  just  to  learn  the  price  of  flour 
or  salt  three  days  sooner,  and  thereby  spoiling  the  rest  of 
the  week,  leaving  an  objectless  blank  where  was  befojre  a 
delicious  chaos  of  hopes  ;  substituting  dull  certainty  for  the 
exquisite  flutterings  of  that  sort  of  doubt  which  leaves  us 
after  all  quite  sure  of  a  happy  result.  I  have  often  thought 
T  would  not  open  the  treasures  which  reached  me  in  this 
unauthorized,  over-the-wall  sort  of  way.  I  have  declared 
that  I  would  not  have  Saturday  evening  spoiled  and  the 
next  week  made  ten  days  long.  But  this  proper  and 
becoming  spirit  has  never  proved  quite  strong  enough  to 
bear  me  through  so  keen  a  trial  of  all  feminine  qualities. 
One  must  be  more  or  less  than  woman  to  endure  the  sight 
of  unopened  letters  longer  than  it  takes  to  find  the  scissors. 
I  doubt  whether  Griselidis  herself  would  not  have  blenched 
at  such  a  requisition,  especially  if  she  had  been  transplanted 
to  the  wilderness,  and  left  behind  hosts  of  friends,  as  well 
as  many  other  very  comfortable  things. 

Another,  subject  of  the  last  interest  which  I  have  as  yet 
.wholly  neglected,  is  the  new  school -house,  a  gigantic  step 
in  the  march  of  improvement.  This,  in  truth,  I  should 
have  mentioned  long  ago,  if  I  could  have  found  anything  to 
say  about  it.  It  has  caused  an  infinity  of  feuds,  made 
mortal  enemies  of  two  brothers,  and  separated  at  least  one 
pair  of  partners.  But  the  subject  has  been  exhausted, 
worn  to  shreds  in  my  hearing ;  and  whenever  I  have 
thought  of  searching  for  an  end  of  the  tangled  clew,  in 
order  to  open  its  mazes  for  the  benefit  of  all  future  school- 
committees  and  their  constituency,  I  have  felt  that  every 
possible  view  of  the  case  had  been  appropriated,  and  there 
fore  must  be  borrowed  or  stolen  for  the  occasion.  I  might 
indeed  have  given  a  description  of  the  building  as  it  now 
24* 


282  A    NEW    HOME, 

smiles  upon  me  from  the  opposite  side  of  the  public  square. 
But  the  reader  may  imagine  St.  Paul's,  St.  Peter's,  the  Parthe 
non,  the  Mosque  of  Sophia,  or  any  edifice  of  that  character, 
and  then  think  of  the  Montacute  school-house  as  something 
inexpressibly  different,  and  he  will  have  as  good  an  idea  of 
it  as  I  could  give  him  in  half  a  page.  I  think  it  resembles 
the  Temple  of  the  Winds  more  nearly  than  any  other 
ancient  structure  I  have  read  of;  at  least,  I  have  often 
thought  so  in  cold  weather,  when  I  have  beguiled  the  hours 
of  a  long  sermon  by  peeping  through  the  cracks  at  the  drift 
ing  snow  ;  but  it  is  built  of  unplaned  oak-boards,  and  has  no 
underpinning  ;  and  the  stove-pipe,  sticking  out  of  one  win 
dow,  looks  rather  modern ;  so  the  likeness  might  not  strike 
every  body. 

The  school-ma'am,  Miss  Cleora  Jenkins,  I  have  elsewhere 
introduced  to  the  reader.  From  April  till  October,  she 
sways  '  the  rod  of  empire  ;'  and  truly  may  it  be  said, 

There  through  the  summer-day 
Green  boughs  are  waving, 

though  I  believe  she  picks  the  leaves  off,  as  tending  to 
defeat  the  ends  of  justice.  Even  the  noon-spell  shines  no 
holiday  for  the  luckless  subjects  of  her  domination,  for  she 
carries  her  bread  and  pickles  rolled  up  in  her  pocket-hand 
kerchief,  and  lunches  where  she  rules,  reading  the  while 
'  The  Children  of  the  Abbey,' — which  took  her  all  sum 
mer, — and  making  one  of  the  large  girls  comb  her  hair  by 
the  hour. 

During  the  snowy,  blowy,  wheezy,  and  freezy  Tmonths, 
the  chair  has  been  taken — not  filled — by  Mr.  Cyrus 
Whicher, — not  Switcher, — a  dignitary  who  had  '  boarded 
round '  till  there  was  very  little  of  him  left.  1  have  been 
told,  that  when  he  first  bore  the  birch, — in  his  own  hand  I 


WHO'LL    FOLLOW?  283 

mean, — he  was  of  a  portly  and  rather  stolid  exterior ;  had 
good  teeth  and  flowing  locks  ;  but  he  was,  when  I  knew 
him,  a  mere  cuticle — a  '  skellinton,'  as  Mr.  Weller  would 
say — shaped  like  a  starved  greyhound  in  the  collapsed 
stage,  his  very  eyes  faded  to  the  color  of  the  skim-milk, 
which  has  doubtless  constituted  his  richest  potation  since 
he  attained  the  empty  honors  of  a  district  school. 

When  he  came  under  my  care,  in  the  course  of  his 
unhappy  gyrations,  I  did  my  best  to  fatten  him  ;  and,  to 
do  him  justice,  his  efforts  were  not  lacking :  but  one  cannot 
make  much  progress  in  one  week,  even  in  cramming  a 
turkey  poult,  and  he  went  as  ethereal  as  he  came. 

One  additional  reason  for  his  '  lean  and  hungry  '  looks  I 
thought  I  discovered  in  his  gnawing  curiosity  of  soul — I 
suppose  it  would  be  more  polite  to  say,  his  burning  thirst 
for  knowledge.  When  he  first  glided  into  my  one  only 
parlor,  I  asked  him  to  sit  down,  expecting  to  hear  his  bones 
rattle  as  he  did  so.  To  my  astonishment  he  noticed  not  my 
civility,  but  gazing  on  the  wall  as  who  should  say — 

Look  yoii,  how  pale  he  glares! 

he  stood  as  one  transfixed. 

At  length — '  Whose  profile  is  that  ?'  he  exclaimed,  point 
ing  to  a  portrait  of  my  dear,  cheerful-looking  grand-mamma 
— a  half-length,  by  Waldo. 

I  told  all  about  it,  as  I  thought,  but  left  room  for  a 
dozen  questions  at  least,  as  to  her  relationship — whether  by 
father's  or  mother's  side — her  age  when  the  picture  was 
taken,  &c.  &c. ;  and  Mr.  Whicher's  concluding  remark,  as 
he  doubled  up  to  sit  down,  was — 

1  Well !  she's  a  dreadful  sober-lookin  old  critter,  aint 
she  now  ?'  But  ere  he  touched  the  chair,  he  opened  again 


284  ANEWHOME, 

like  a  folded  rule  out  of  a  case  of  instruments,  and  stood 
erect,  save  head  and  shoulders. 

'  Is  that  a  pi-anner  ?'  he  asked  with  a  sort  of  chuckle  of 
delight.  '  Well !  I  heard  you  had  one,  but  I  did  n't  hardly 
believe  it.  And  what  's  this  thing  ?'  twirling  the  music- 
stool  with  all  his  might,  and  getting  down  on  his  poor 
knees  to  look  underneath  both  these  curiosities. 

'Jest  play  on  it,  will  ye !' 

'Dinner  is  ready,  Mr.  Whicher  :  I  will  play  afterwards/ 

He  balanced  for  one  moment  between  inanition  and 
curiosity ;  then,  '  with  his  head  over  his  shoulder  turn'd,' 
he  concluded  to  defer  pleasure  to  business.  He  finished 
his  meal  by  the  time  others  had  fairly  begun ;  and  then 
throwing  himself  back  in  his  chair,  said,  '  I'm  ready  when 
ever  you  be.' 

I  could  not  do  less  than  make  all  possible  speed,  and 
Mr.  Whicher  sat  entranced  until  he  was  late  for  school : 
not  so  much  listening  to  the  tinkling  magic,  as  prying  into 
the  nature  and  construction  of  the  instrument,  which  he 
thought  must  have  taken  'a  good  bunch  of  cypherin.' 

That  week's  sojourn  added  a  good  deal  to  the  school 
master's  stores  of  knowledge.  He  scraped  a  little  of  the 
crystalized  green  off  my  inkstand  to  find  out  how  it  was 
put  on  ;  pulled  up  a  corner  of  the  parlor-carpet,  to  see 
whether  it  was  '  wove  like  a  bed-spread ;'  whether  it  was 
'  over-shot  or  under-shot ;'  and  not  content  with  ascertain 
ing  by  personal  inspection  the  construction  of  every  article 
which  was  new  to  him,  he  pumped  dry  every  member 
of  the  household,  as  to  their  past  mode  of  life,  future 
prospects,  opinion  of  the  country,  religious  views,  and 
thoughts  on  every  imaginable  subject.  I  began  to  feel 


"  And  what's  this  thing"  twirling  the  music  stool  with,  all  his 
might,  and  getting  down  on  his  poor  knees  to  look  under  neath 
both  these  curiosities."  p.  284 


WHO'LL    FOLLOW?  285 

croupish  before  he  left  us,  from  having  talked  myself 
quite  out. 

One  of  his  habits  struck  me  as  rather  peculiar.  He 
never  saw  a  letter  or  a  sealed  paper  of  any  kind  that  he 
did  not  deliberately  try  every  possible  method,  by  peeping, 
squeezing,  and  poking,  to  get  at  its  contents.  I  at  first 
set  this  down  as  something  which  denoted  a  more  than 
usually  mean  and  dishonest  curiosity ;  but  after  I  had 
seen  the  same  operation  performed  in  my  presence  without 
the  least  hesitation  or  apology,  by  a  reverend  gentleman 
of  high  reputation,  I  concluded  that  the  poor  schoolmaster 
had  at  least  some  excuse  for  his  ill-breeding. 

Mr.  Whicher  had  his  own  troubles  last  winter.  A 
scholar  of  very  equivocal,  or  rather  unequivocal  character, 
claimed  admission  to  the  school,  and,  of  all  concerned,  not 
one  had  courage  or  firmness  to  object  to  her  reception. 
She  was  the  daughter  of  a  fierce,  quarrelsome  man,  who 
had  already  injured,  either  by  personal  abuse,  or  by  vexa 
tious  litigation,  half  the  people  in  the  place ;  and  though 
all  detested  her,  and  dreaded  contamination  for  their 
daughters,  not  a  voice  was  raised — not  a  girl  removed 
from  the  school.  This  cowardly  submission  to  open  and 
public  wrong  seems  hardly  credible ;  but  I  have  observed 
it  in  many  other  instances,  and  it  has,  in  most  cases, 
appeared  to  arise  from  a  distrust  in  the  protecting  power 
of  the  law,  which  has  certainly  been  hitherto  most  imper 
fectly  and  irregularly  administered  in  Michigan.  People 
suppress  their  just  indignation  at  many  abuses,  from 
a.  fear  that  they  may  '  get  into  trouble ;'  i.  e.  be  haled 
before  an  ignorant  justice  of  the  peace,  who  will  be  quite 
as  likely  to  favor  the  wrong  as  the  right,  as  interest  or 
prejudice  may  chance  to  incline  him.  Thus  a  bad  man, 


286  ANEWHOME, 

if  he  have  only  the  requisite  boldness,  may  trample  on  the 
feelings,  and  disturb  the  peace  of  a  whole  community. 

When  Hannah  Parsons  applied  for  admission  to  the 
district  school,  Mr.  Which er  made  such  objections  as  he 
dared  in  his  timidity.  He  thought  she  was  too  old — her 
mother  said  she  was  not  nineteen,  though  she  had  a  son 
of  two  years  and  upwards.  And  she  did  not  wish  to 
study  anything  but  arithmetic  and  writing ;  so  that  there 
could  be  no  objection  as  to  classes.  And  the  wretched 
girl  forced  herself  into  the  ranks  of  the  young  and  innocent, 
for  what  purpose  or  end  I  never  could  divine. 

From  this  hour  the  unfortunate  Whicher  was  her  victim. 
She  began  by  showing  him  the  most  deferential  attention, 
watching  his  looks,  and  asking  his  aid  in  the  most  trivial 
matters ;  wanting  her  pen  mended  twenty  times  in  the 
course  of  one  copy,  and  insisting  upon  the  school-master's 
showing  her  again  and  again  exactly  how  it  should  be  held. 
She  never  went  to  school  without  carrying  a  tribute  of 
some  sort,  a  custard,  or  an  apple, — apples  are  something 
with  us, — or  a  geranium  leaf  at  least.  Now  these  offerings 
are  so  common  among  school- children,  that  the  wretched 
master,  though  writhing  with  disgust,  knew  not  how  to 
refuse  them,  and  his  life  wore  away  under  the  anguish 
inflicted  by  his  tormentor. 

At  length  it  was  whispered  that  Hannah  Parsons  would 
again  bring  to  the  eye  of  day  a  living  evidence  of  her 
shame  ;  and  the  unfortunate  schoolmaster  saw  himself  the 
victim  of  a  conspiracy. 

It  needed  but  this  to  complete  his  distraction.  He  fled 
in  imbecile  despair ;  and  after  the  wonder  had  died  away, 
and  the  scandal  had  settled  on  the  right  head,  we  heard 
no  word  of  the  innocent  pedagogue  for  a  long  time.  But 


WHO'LL    FOLLOW?  287 

after  that  came  news,  that  Cyrus  Whicher,  in  the  wretched 
ness  of  his  poverty,  had  joined  a  gang  of  idlers  and  despe 
radoes  who  had  made  a  vow  against  honest  industry ;  and 
it  is  not  now  very  long  since  we  learned  that  he  had  the 
honor  of  being  hanged  at  Toronto  as  a  '  Patriot/ 


288  A    NEW    HOME, 


CHAPTER    XLVI. 

Go  with  speed 

To  some  forlorn  and  naked  hermitage, 
Remote  from  all  the  pleasures  of  the  world ; 
There  stay  until  the  twelve  celestial  signs 
Have  brought  about  their  annual  reckoning. 

If  this  austere,  insociable  life 

If  frosts  and  fasts,  hard  lodging  and  thin  weeds 
Nip  not  the  gaudy  blossoms  of  your  pride 


LOVE'S  LABOR  LOST. 

They  wear  themselves  in  the  cap  of  time  there;  do  muster  true  gait,  eat, 
Bpeak,  and  move,  under  the  influence  of  the  most  received  star;  and  though 
the  devil  lead  the  measure,  such  are  to  be  followed. 

ALL'S    WELL    THAT    ENDS    WELL. 

ONE  must  come  quite  away  from  the  conveniences  and 
refined  indulgences  of  civilized  life  to  know  any  thing  about 
them.  To  be  always  inundated  with  comforts  is  but  too 
apt  to  make  us  proud,  selfish,  and  ungrateful.  The  mind's 
health,  as  well  as  the  body's,  is  promoted  by  occasional 
privation  or  abstinence.  Many  a  sour-faced  grumbler  I 
wot  of,  would  be  marvellously  transformed  by  a  year's 
residence  in  the  woods,  or  even  in  a  Michigan  village  of  as 
high  pretensions  as  Montacute.  If  it  were  not  for  casting 
a  sort  of  dishonor  on  a  country  life,  turning  into  a  magnifi 
cent  '  beterinhaus '  these 

'  Haunts  of  deer, 

And  lanes  in  which  the  primrose  ere  her  time 
Peeps  through  the  moss,' 

I  should  be  disposed  to  recommend  a  course  of  Michigan  to 
the   Sybarites,  the    puny  exquisites,  the    world-worn   and 


WHO'LL    FOLLOW?  289 

sated  Epicureans  of  our  cities.  If  I  mistake  not,  they 
would  make  surprising  advances  in  philosophy  in  the  course 
of  a  few  months'  training.  I  should  not  be  severe  either. 
I  should  not  require  them  to  come  in  their  strictly  natural 
condition  as  featherless  bipeds.  I  would  allow  them  to 
bring  many  a  comfort — nay,  even  some  real  luxuries ; 
books,  for  instance,  and  a  reasonable  supply  of  New  York 
Safety-Fund  notes,  the  most  tempting  form  which  '  world's 
gear '  can  possibly  assume  for  our  western,  wild-cat-wear 
ied  eyes.  I  would  grant  to  each  neophyte  a  ready-made 
loggery,  a  garden  fenced  with  tamarack  poles,  and  ever-y 
facility  and  convenience  which  is  now  enjoyed  by  the  better 
class  of  our  settlers,  yet  I  think  I  might  after  all  hope  to 
send  home  a  reasonable  proportion  of  my  subjects  com 
pletely  cured,  sane  for  life. 

I  have  in  the  course  of  these  detached  and  desultory 
chapters,  hinted  at  various  deficiencies  and  peculiarities, 
which  strike,  with  rather  unpleasant  force,  the  new  resident 
in  the  back- woods  ;  but  it  would  require  volumes  to  enu 
merate  all  the  cases  in  which  the  fastidiousness,  the  taste, 
the  pride,  the  self-esteem  of  the  refined  child  of  civilization, 
must  be  wounded  by  a  familiar  intercourse  with  the  persons 
among  whom  he  will  find  himself  thrown,  in  the  ordinary 
course  of  rural  life.  He  is  continually  reminded  in  how 
great  a  variety  of  particulars  his  necessities,  his  materials 
,for  comfort,  and  his  sources  of  pain,  are  precisely  those  of 
the  humblest  of  his  neighbors.  The  humblest  did  I  say  ? 
He  will  find  that  he  has  no  humble  neighbors.  He  will 
very  soon  discover,  that  in  his  new  sphere,  no  act  of  kind 
ness,  no  offer  of  aid,  will  be  considered  as  anything  short 
of  insult,  if  the  least  suspicion  of  condescension  peep  out. 
Equality,  perfect  and  practical,  is  the  sine  qua  non ;  and 
25 


200  A    NEW    HOME, 

any  appearance  of  a  desire  to  avoid  this  rather  trying  fra 
ternization,  is  invariably  met  by  a  fierce  and  indignant 
resistance.  The  spirit  in  which  was  conceived  the  motto 
of  the  French  revolution,  '  La  fraternite  ou  la  mort,'  exists 
in  full  force  among  us,  though  modified  as  to  results.  In 
cities  we  bestow  charity — in  the  country  we  can  only 
exchange  kind  offices,  nominally  at  least.  If  you  are  per 
fectly  well  aware  that  your  nearest  neighbor  has  not  tasted 
meat  in  a  month,  nor  found  in  his  pocket  the  semblance 
of  a  shilling  to  purchase  it,  you  must  not  be  surprised, 
when  you  have  sent  him  a  piece,  to  receive  for  reply, 

'  0  !  your  pa  wants  to  change,  does  he  ?  Well,  you  may 
put  it  down.'  And  this  without  the  remotest  idea  that  the 
time  for  repayment  ever  will  arrive,  but  merely  to  avoid 
saying  '  I  thank  you/  a  phrase  especially  eschewed,  so  far 
as  I  have  had  opportunity  to  observe. 

This  same  republican  spirit  is  evinced  rather  amusingly, 
in  the  reluctance  to  admire,  or  even  to  approve,  any  thing 
like  luxury  or  convenience  which  is  not  in  common  use 
among  the  settlers.  Your  carpets  are  spoken  of  as  '  one 
way  to  hide  dirt ;'  your  mahogany  tables  as  '  dreadful 
plaguy  to  scour ;'  your  kitchen  conveniences,  as  'lumberin 
up  the  house  for  nothin ;'  and  so  on  to  the  end  of  the  chap 
ter.  One  lady  informed  me,  that  if  she  had  such  a  pantry 
full  of  '  dishes,'  under  which  general  term  is  included  every 
variety  of  china,  glass  and  earthenware,  she  should  set  up, 
store,  and  '  sell  them  off  pretty  quick,3  for  she  would  not 
'be  plagued  with  them.'  Another,  giving  a  slighting 
glance  at  a  French  mirror  of  rather  unusual  dimensions, 
larger  by  two-thirds,  I  verily  believe,  than  she  had  ever 
seen,  remarked,  '  that  would  be  quite  a  nice  glass,  if  the 
frame  was  done  over.' 


WHO'LL     FOLLOW?  291 

Others  take  up  the  matter  reprovingly.  They  '  do  n't 
think  it  right  to  spend  money  so;'  they  think,  too,  that 
'  pride  never  did  nobody  no  good ;'  and  some  will  go  so  far 
as  to  suggest  modes  of  disposing  of  your  superfluities. 

'  Any  body  that 's  got  so  many  dresses,  might  afford  to 
give  away  half  on 'em ;'  or  'I  should  think  you'd  got  so 
much  land,  you  might  give  a  poor  man  a  lot,  and  never 
miss  it.'  A  store  of  any  thing,  however  simple  or  neces 
sary,  is,  as  I  have  elsewhere  observed,  a  subject  of  re 
proach,  if  you  decline  supplying  whomsoever  may  be 
deficient. 

This  simplification  of  life,  this  bringing  down  the  transac 
tions  of  daily  intercourse  to  the  original  principles  of  society, 
is  neither  very  eagerly  adopted,  nor  very  keenly  relished, 
by  those  who  have  been  accustomed  to  the  politer  atmos 
pheres.  They  rebel  most  determinedly,  at  first.  They 
perceive  that  the  operation  of  the  golden  rule,  in  circum 
stances  where  it  is  all  give  on  one  side,  and  all  take  on  the 
other,  must  necessarily  be  rather  severe ;  and  they  declare 
manfully  against  all  impertinent  intrusiveness.  But,  sooth 
to  say,  there  are  in  the  country  so  many  ways  of  being 
made  uncomfortable  by  one's  most  insignificant  enemy,  that 
it  is  soon  discovered  that  warfare  is  even  more  costly  than 
submission. 

And  all  this  forms  part  of  the  schooling  which  I  propose 
for  my  spoiled  child  of  refined  civilization.  And  although 
many  of  these  remarks  and  requisitions  of  our  unpolished 
neighbors  are  unreasonable  an£  absurd  enough,  yet  some  of 
them  commend  themselves  to  our  better  feelings  in  such  a 
sort,  that  we  find  ourselves  ashamed  to  refuse  what  it 
seemed  at  first  impertinent  to  ask ;  and  after  the  barriers  of 
pride  and  prejudice  are  once  broken,  we  discover  a  certain 


292  A    NEW    HOME, 

satisfaction  in  this  homely  fellowship  with  our  kind,  which 
goes  far  towards  repaying  whatever  sacrifices  or  concessions 
we  may  have  been  induced  to  make.  This  has  its  limits  of 
course ;  and  one  cannot  help  observing  that  '  levelling  up 
wards  '  is  much  more  congenial  to  '  human  natur,'  than 
levelling  downwards.  The  man  who  thinks  you  ought  to 
spare  him  a  piece  of  ground  for  a  garden,  because  you  have 
more  than  he  thinks  you  need,  would  be  far  from  sharing 
with  his  poorer  neighbor  the  superior  advantages  of  his  lot. 
He  would  tell  him  to  work  for  them  as  he  had  done. 

But  then  there  are,  in  the  one  case,  some  absolute  and 
evident  superfluities,  according  to  the  primitive  estimate  of 
these  regions ;  in  the  other,  none.  The  doll  of  Fortune,  who 
may  cast  a  languid  eye  on  this  homely  page,  from  the 
luxurious  depths  of  a  velvet-cushioned  library-chair,  can 
scarce  be  expected  to  conceive  how  natural  it  may  be,  for 
those  who  possess  nothing  beyond  the  absolute  requisites  of 
existence,  to  look  with  a  certain  degree  of  envy  on  the  extra 
comforts  which  seem  to  cluster  round  the  path  of  another ; 
and  to  feel  as  if  a  little  might  well  be  spared,  where  so 
much  would  still  be  left.  To  the  tenant  of  a  log-cabin 
whose  family,  whatever  be  its  numbers,  must  burrow  in  a 
single  room,  while  a  bed  or  two,  a  chest,  a  table,  and  a 
wretched  handful  of  cooking  utensils,  form  the  chief  mate- 
terials  of  comfort,  an  ordinary  house,  small  and  plain  it  may 
be,  yet  amply  supplied,  looks  like  the  very  home  of  luxury. 
The  woman  who  owns  but  a  suit  a-piece  for  herself  and  her 
children,  considers  the  possession  of  an  abundant  though 
simple  and  inexpensive  wardrobe,  as  needless  extravagance ; 
and  we  must  scarcely  blame  her  too  severely,  if  she  should 
be  disposed  to  condemn  as  penurious,  any  reluctance  to 
supply  her  pressing  need,  though  she  may  have  no  shadow 


WHO'LL    FOLLOW?  293 

of  claim  on  us  beyond  that  which  arises  from  her  being  a 
daughter  of  Eve.  We  look  at  the  matter  from  opposite 
points  of  view.  Her  light  shows  her  very  plainly,  as  she 
thinks,  what  is  our  Christian  duty ;  we  must  take  care  that 
ours  does  not  exhibit  too  exclusively  her  envy  and  her  im 
pertinence. 

The  inequalities  in  the  distribution  of  the  gifts  of  fortune 
are  not  greater  in  the  country  than  in  town,  but  the  con 
trary  ;  yet  circumstances  render  them  more  offensive  to  the 
less  favored  class.  The  denizens  of  the  crowded  alleys  and 
swarming  lofts  of  our  great  cities  see,  it  is  true,  the  lofty 
mansions,  the  splendid  equipages  of  the  wealthy — but  they 
are  seldom  or  never  brought  into  contact  or  collision  with 
the  owners  of  these  glittering  advantages.  And  the  ex 
treme  width  of  the  great  gulf  between,  is  almost  a  barrier, 
even  to  all-reaching  envy.  But  in  the  ruder  stages  of 
society,  where  no  one  has  yet  begun  to  expend  any  thing 
for  show,  the  difference  lies  chiefly  in  the  ordinary  requisites 
of  comfort ;  and  this  comes  home  at  once  '  to  men's  business 
and  bosoms.'  The  keenness  of  their  appreciation,  and  the 
strength  of  their  envy,  bear  a  direct  proportion  to  the  real 
value  of  the  objects  of  their  desire ;  and  when  they  are  in 
habits  of  entire  equality  and  daily  familiarity  with  those 
who  own  ten  or  twenty  times  as  much  of  the  materiel  of 
earthly  enjoyment  as  themselves,  it  is  surely  natural,  how 
ever  provoking,  that  they  should  not  be  studious  to  veil 
their  longings  after  a  share  of  the  good  which  has  been  so 
bounteously  showered  upon  their  neighbors. 

I  am  only  making  a  sort  of  apology  for  the  foibles  of  my 
rustic  friends.  I  cannot  say  that  I  feel  much  respect  for  any 
thing  which  looks  like  a  willingness  to  live  at  others'  cost, 
save  as  a  matter  of  the  last  necessity. 


294  A    NEW    HOME, 

I  was  adverting  to  a  certain  unreservedness  of  communi 
cation  on  these  points,  as  often  bringing  wholesome  and 
much  needed  instruction  home  to  those  whom  prosperity 
and  indulgence  may  have  rendered  unsympathizing,  or 
neglectful  of  the  kindly  feelings  which  are  among  the  best 
ornaments  of  our  nature. 

But  I  am  aware  that  I  have  already  been  adventurous, 
far  beyond  the  bounds  of  prudence.  To  hint  that  it  may 
be  better  not  to  cultivate  too  far  that  haughty  spirit  of  ex- 
clusiveness  which  is  the  glory  of  the  fashionable  world,  is,  I 
know,  hazardous  in  the  extreme.  I  have  not  so  far  forgot 
ten  the  rules  of  the  sublime  clique  as  not  to  realize,  that  in 
acknowledging  even  a  leaning  toward  the  '  vulgar '  side,  I 
place  myself  forever  beyond  its  pale.  But  I  am  now  a 
denizen  of  the  wild  woods — in  my  view,  '  no  mean  city  '  to 
own  as  one's  home ;  and  I  feel  no  ambition  to  aid  in  the 
formation  of  a  Montacute  aristocracy,  for  which  an  ample 
field  is  now  open,  and  all  the  proper  materials  are  at  hand. 
What  lack  we  ?  Several  of  us  have  as  many  as  three  cows ; 
some  few,  carpets  and  shanty-kitchens ;  and  one  or  two, 
pianofortes  and  silver  tea-sets.  I  myself,  as  dame  de  la 
seigneurie,  have  had  secret  thoughts  of  an  astral  lamp ;  but 
even  if  I  should  go  so  far,  I  am  resolved  not  to  be  either 
vain-glorious  or  over-bearing,  although  this  kind  of  supe 
riority  forms  the  usual  ground  for  exclusiveness.  I  shall 
visit  my  neighbors  just  as  usual,  and  take  care  not  to  say  a 
single  word  about  dipped  candles,  if  I  can  possibly  help  it. 


WHO'LL    FOLLOW?  20f» 


CHAPTER   XLVII. 

Why,  then,  a  final  note  prolong, 
Or  lengthen  out  a  closing  song? 

THE  growth  of  our  little  secluded  village  has  been  so 
gradual,  its  prosperity  so  moderate,  and  its  attempts 
so  unambitious,  that  during  the  whole  three  years  which 
have  flown  since  it  knew  '  the  magic  of  a  name,'  not  a 
single  event  has  occurred  which  would  have  been  deemed 
worthy  of  record  by  any  one  but  a  midge-fancier  like 
myself.  Our  brief  annals  boast  not  yet  one  page,  enlivened 
by  those  attractive  words,  '  prodigious  undertaking !'  bril 
liant  success  !'  '  splendid  fortune  !'  '  race  of  enterprise  !' 
'  march  of  improvement !'  '  cultivation  of  taste  !'  '  triumph 
of  art !'  '  design  by  Vitruvius  !'  '  unequalled  dome  !'  '  pin 
nacle  of  glory !'  Alas !  the  mere  enumeration  of  these 
magnificent  expressions  makes  our  insignificance  seem 
doubly  insignificant !  like  the  joke  of  our  school-days — 
'  Soared  aloft  on  eagles'  wings — then  fell  flat  down,  on 
father's  wood-pile.'  Irredeemably  little  are  we ;  unless, 
which  Heaven  forefend !  a  rail-road  stray  our  way.  We 
must  content  ourselves  with  grinding  the  grists,  trimming 
the  bonnets,  mending  the  ploughs,  and  schooling  the  chil 
dren,  of  a  goodly  expanse  of  wheat-fields,  with  such  other 
odd  jobs  as  may  come  within  the  abilities  of  our  various 
Jacks-of-all-trades.  We  cannot  be  metropolitan,  even  in 
our  dreams  ;  for  Turnipdale  has  secured  the  County  honors. 


A    NEW    HOME, 

We  cannot  hope  to  be  literary ;  for  all  the  colleges  which 
are  to  be  tolerated  in  Michigan,  are  already  located.  The 
State-Prison  favors  Jacksonsburg ;  the  salt-works  some 
undistinguished  place  at  the  north-east;  what  is  left  for 
Montacute  ? 

Alas  for  Tinkerville !  less  happy  under  the  cruel  blight 
of  her  towering  hopes,  than  we  in  our  humble  notelessness. 
She  rose  like  a  rocket,  only  to  fall  like  its  stick;  and 
baleful  were  the  stars  that  signalized  her  explosion.  Mourn 
ful  indeed  are  the  closed  windows  of  her  porticoed  edifices. 
The  only  pleasurable  thought  which  arises  in  my  mind 
at  the  mention  of  her  name,  is  that  connected  with  her 
whilome  president.  Mrs.  Rivers  is  coming  to  spend  the 
summer  with  Mrs.  Daker,  while  Mr.  Rivers  departs  for 
Texas  with  two  or  three  semblables,  to  attempt  the  carving 
out  of  a  new  home,  where  he  need  not  '  work.'  I  shall 
have  my  gentle  friend  again;  and  her  life  will  not  lack 
interest,  for  she  brings  with  her  a  drooping,  delicate  baby, 
to  borrow  health  from  the  sunny  skies  and  soft  breezes 
of  Michigan. 

The  Female  Beneficent  Society  grows,  by  dire  experience, 
chary  of  news.  The  only  novel  idea  broached  at  our  last 
meeting,  was  that  of  a  nascent  tendresse  between  Mrs. 
Nippers  and  Mr.  Phlatt,  a  young  lawyer,  whose  resplen 
dent  'tin,'  graces,  within  the  last  month,  the  side-post 
of  Squire  Jenkins's  door.  I  have  my  doubts.  This  is  one 
of  the  cases  wherein  much  may  be  said  on  both  sides.  Mr. 
Phlatt  is  certainly  a  constant  visitor  at  Mrs.  Nippers's,  but 
the  knowing  widow  does  not  live  alone.  He  praises  with 
great  fervor  Mrs.  Nippers's  tea  and  biscuits,  but  then  who 
could  do  less?  they  are  so  unequivocally  perfect — and 
besides,  Mr.  Phlatt  has  not  access  to  many  such  com- 


W  HO'LL    FOLLOW?  297 

fortable  tea-tables — and  moreover,  when  he  praises  he 
gazes,  but  not  invariably  on  Mrs.  Nippers.  I  am  not 
convinced  yet.  Miss  Clinch  has  a  new  French  calico, 
couleur  de  rose,  and  a  pink  lining  to  her  Tuscan.  And 
she  is  young  and  rather  pretty.  But  then,  she  has  no 
money !  and  Mrs.  Nippers  has  quite  a  pretty  little  income — 
the  half-pay  of  her  deceased  Mr.  Nippers,  who  died  of 
a  fever  at  Sacket's  Harbor — and  Mrs.  Nippers  has  been 
getting  a  new  dress,  just  the  color  of  blue-pill,  Dr.  Teeny 
says.  I  waver,  but  time  will  bring  all  things  to  light. 

Mr.  Hastings  goes  to  the  Legislature  next  winter ;  and 
he  is  beginning  to  collect  materials  for  a  house,  which  will 
be  as  nearly  as  may  be,  like  his  father's  summer-palace  on 
the  Hudson.  But  he  is  in  another  county,  so  we  do  not 
feel  envious.  Cora  will  never  be  less  lovely,  nor  more  ele 
gant,  nor  (whispered  be  it !)  more  happy  than  she  is  in  her 
pretty  log-house.  And  the  new  house  will  be  within  the 
same  belt  of  maples  and  walnuts  which  now  encircles  the 
picturesque  cottage ;  so  that  the  roses  and  honey-suckles 
will  tell  well ;  like  their  fair  mistress,  graceful  and  exquisite 
any  where. 

Many  new  buildings  are  springing  up  in  Montacute.  Mr. 
Doubleday  has  ensconced  himself  and  his  wife  and  baby,  in 
a  white  and  green  tenement,  neat  enough  even  for  that 
queen  of  housewives;  and  Betsey,  having  grown  stout, 
scours  the  new  white-wood  floors,  a  merveille.  Loggeries 
are  becoming  scarce  within  our  limits,  and  many  of  our 
ladies  wear  silk  dresses  on  Sunday.  We  have  two  physi 
cians,  and  two  lawyers,  or  rather  one  and  a  half,  Squire 
Jenkins  being  only  an  adopted  son  of  Themis.  He  thought 
it  a  pity  his  gift  in  the  talking  line  should  not  be  duly  use 
ful  to  the  public,  so  he  acts  as  advocate,  whenever  he  is 


298  ANBWHOMB,  &c. 

not  on  duty  as  judge,  and  thereby  ekes  out  his  bread  and 
butter,  as  well  as  adds  to  his  reputation.  And  in  addition 
to  all  the  improvements  which  I  have  recorded,  I  may 
mention  that  we  are  building  a  new  meeting-house,  and  are 
soon  to  have  a  settled  minister. 

And  now,  why  do  I  linger?  As  some  rustic  damsel 
who  has,  in  her  simplicity,  accepted  the  hurried  '  Do  call 
when  you  come  to  town,'  of  a  fine  city  guest,  finds  that  she 
has  already  outstaid  the  fashionable  limit,  yet  hesitates  in 
her  awkwardness  when  and  how  to  take  leave;  so  I — 
conscious  that  I  have  said  forth  my  little  say,  yet  scarce 
knowing  in  what  style  best  to  make  my  parting  reverence, 
have  prolonged  this  closing  chapter — a  'conclusion  wherein 
nothing  is  concluded.'  But  such  simple  and  sauntering 
stories  are  like  Scotch  reels,  which  have  no  natural  ending, 
save  the  fatigue  of  those  engaged.  So  I  may  as  well  cut 
short  my  mazy  dance  and  resume  at  once  my  proper 
position  as  a  '  wall  flower,'  with  an  unceremonious  adieu  to 
the  kind  and  courteous  reader. 


. 


PUBLISHED  BY  C.  S.   FRANCIS  <fc  CO.,   NEW-YOKK.' 

33  o  o  ft  s    tor    <E  f)  U  tr  r  e  n . 

THE    CHILD'S     OWN     BOOK. 

A  thick  volume  of  620  pages,  with  upwards  of  200  Engravings. 

The  contents  of  this  book  were  selected  by  a  Lady  in  reference  to  strict  moral  as 
well  as  amusing  reading;  and  the  tales  have  all  their  original  interest;  nothing 
changed  except  vulgar  or  improper  expressions,  unfit  for  the  juvenile  reader. 

The  Contents  are— Aladdin  ;  A15  Baba;  Beauty  and  the  Beast;  Blanch  and  Rosa 
linda  ;  Blue  Beard;  Children  in  the  Wood;  Cinderella;  Discreet  Princess;  Dia 
monds  and  Toads;  P'atal  and  Fortune;  Fortunatus;  Fortunio  ;  Fisherman  and 
Genii;  Golden  Locks;  Goody  Twoshoes ;  Griselda;  Graciosa;  Gulliver's  Travels, 
Hopo'my  Thumb  ;  Little  Jack;  King  Pippin;  The  Giant  Killer;  Jack  and  the  Bean 
Stalk  ;  Invisible  Prince  ;  Little  Hunchback  ;  Red  Riding  Hood  ;  La  Perouse;  Royal 
Ram;  Nourjahad:  Puss  in  Boots;  Philip  Quarl ;  Peronella;  Lee  Boo ;  Riquet  with 
the  Tuft ;  Robin  Hood;  Crusoe  ;  Seven  Champions  ;  Three  Wishes;  Tom  Thumb  ; 
Valentine  and  Orson  j  White  Cat :  Whittiugton  and  his  Cat ;  Yellow  Dwarf. 


THE   LITTLE  CHILD'S    BOOK: 

Or  Spelling  and   Reading  illustrated  by  Emblematic  Figures.     A 
new  and  improved  edition,  with  more  than  500  Engravings. 

The  design  of  the  Little  Child's  Book  (approved  by  the  sale  of  several  large  edi 
tions),  is  to  give  young  children  a  series  of  pictures,  with  short  definitions,  for  their 
amusement  and  instruction,  until  they  are  capable  of  more  extensive  reading. 

The  same  work  is  published  in  Four  separate  books. 


THE   BOY'S   OWN    BOOK. 

A  Complete  Encyclopedia  of  all  the  Diversions,  Athletic,   Scientific,  and 

Recreative,  of  Boyhood  and  Youth. 

Including  Games  with  Marbles,  Tops,  Balls,  Sports  of  Agility  and  Speed,  Toys, 
Archery,  Cricket,  Gymnastics,  Sw  imming;  A  rithmetical,  Optical  and  Chemical  Amuse 
ments;  Checkers,  Cards,  Legerdemain,  Puzzles,  Riddles,  Angling,  Fencing,  &c.  &c. 
&c.,  with  very  numerous  engravings. 


THE  AMERICAN    GIRL'S   BOOK; 

Or,  OCCUPATION  FOR  PLAY  HOURS.     By  Miss  Leslie. 
Including  all  the  Sports  and  Pastimes  suited  to  Girls  ;  Plays  with  Toys,  Game* 
with  Cards,  Riddles,  Amusing  and  Pancy  Needle-Work,  Card- Work,  &c.«fec. 


PARLOUR    MAGIC 

Or,  BOYS'  BOOK  OF  AMUSING  EXPERIMENTS. 
Containing  Transmutations;  Experiments  in  Sight  and  Sound  ;  on  Light  and  Heat; 
on  Gas  and  Steam  ;  on  Fire,  Water,  and  Air;  Sleights  and  Subtleties;  Miscellane 
ous  Experiments. 

GYMNASTIC    EXERCISES. 

Paul  Preston's  Book  of  Gymnastics  ;  or  Sports  for  Youth  to  promote 
Health  and  Long  Life. 

Containing  directions  for  Exercises  on  the  Parallel  Bars,  Horizontal  Pole,  Horse 
Exercise,  Running,  Leaping,  Throwing  the  Spear,  Climbing,  &c.  &c.  &c.,  with  illus 
trative  diagrams. 

55 


BOOKS  PUBLISHED  BY  C.  S.  FRANCIS,  NEW  YORK. 


NEW  AND  CHEAP  EDITION 

OP  THE 

WAVERLEY    NOVELS, 

AND 

SIR  WALTER  SCOTT'S 

POETICAL    WORKS, 

TOGETHER  WITH  HIS 

LIFE    BY   LOCKHART. 

Now  publishing  at  the  very  low  price  0/25  cents  a  volume. 


• 


BOOKS  PUBLISHED  BY  C.  S.  FRANCIS  &-  CO.,  NEW  YORK. 

In  two  volumes,  12mo.,  cloth. 

FOREST    LIFE. 

BY   THE    AUTHOR   OF 

"A    NEW    HOME  — WHO'LL    FOLLOWS 


"Humor,  vivacity,  keen  discernment,  graphic  powers  of  description,  and  a 
thorough  acquaintance  with  American  forest  life,  are  the  most  striking  features  of 
these  volumes  There  is  not  a  chapter  from  which  we  do  not  feel  strongly  disposed 
to  quote." — London  Atlas. 

"  Miss  Sedgwick  must  not  only  acknowledge  'a  rival  near  her  throne,'  but  she 
must  make  room  for  a  sister  on  it.  The  author  of  that  charming  and  widely-popu 
lar  work,  '  A  New  Home,'  has  followed  up  her  successful  coup  d'essai  in  the  world 
of  literature  with  the  volumes  before  us ;  and  when  we  say  that  they  fully  sustain 
the  promise  of  their  predecessor,  we  say  all  that  is  necessary  to  secure  at  once  the 
attention  of  our  readers."  —  Knickerbocker. 

"  No  less  graphic,  witty,  kindly,  sensible,  and  amusing  a  book  than  the  prede 
cessor,  of  which  it  is  the  sequel.  Her  voice  comes  to  us  out  of  the  far  unknown  wil 
derness,  from  which  she  sends  it  forth,  like  the  clear  ringing  song  of  a  bird,  issuing 
from  the  heart  of  a  wood."  —  Democratic  Review. 

"Delicate  but  genial  humor,  pathos,  nice  perception  of  character,  and  unrivalled 
powers  of  description,  all  unite  to  make  her  writings  most  attractive."  —  New  York 
Commercial  Advertiser 

"  The  present  work  is  a  sort  of  continuation  of e  A  New  Home  —  Who'll  Follow .' ' 
and  we  can  assure  the  readers  of  that  charming  work,  that  in  '  Forest  Life,'  they 
have  even  a  richer  feast  spread  before  them  than  the  banquet  they  enjoyed  at  her 
hospitable  HOME  in  the  far  West."  —  New  World. 

"  We  admire  her  dashing  style,  her  delineations  of  the  homely  manners,  habits, 
and  peculiarities  of  Western  life,  and  commend  the  volumes  to  all  the  admirers  or 
genuine  American  literature."  —  Merchants'  Magazine. 

"These  are  charming  volumes,  written  with  a  freshness  and  spirit  that  delight 
and  would  surprise  us,  were  we  not  familiar  with  the  first  work  of  their  author. 
Mrs.  Kirkland  has  opened  a  new  vein  in  our  national  literature.  Her  sketches  of 
forest  scenery  and  wood-craft,  with  all  its  varied  details,  are  not  less  true  than 
graphic. "  —  Graham's  Magazine. 

"  The  great  charm  of  «  A  New  Home  '  and  «  Forest  Life,'  is,  that  they  tell  us 
'just  what  we  want  to  know '  of  that  wonderful  country  to  which  half  of  us  mean 
to  go,  while  the  other  half,  in  resolving  to  stay  at  home,  think  of,  and  talk  of  it 
almost  as  much  as  the  emigrants  themselves.  Half  an  hour  with  one  of  these 
hooks,  is  like  half  an  hour's  chat  with  one  of  our  pleasant  Western  kinsfolk.  '  — 
Boston  Miscellany. 


In  one  volume,  12mo.,  cloth. 

A   NEW   HOME— WHO'LL   FOLLOW? 

OR, 

GLIMPSES    OP   WESTERN   LIFE, 

BY    MRS.  MARY    CLAVERS,    AN    ACTUAL    SETTLER. 
THIRD    EDITION. 


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